Sword Art Online: Hollow Rings
by silentslender
Summary: Sword Art Online is not perfect, and its system was bound to a breaking point. Now, all of us have 25 more floors to go before we can even achieve our real lives again, yet I was consumed by a flash of blue light. Now, something else is surfacing among the cracked system and the only person to help me is an orange player within this 'Hollow Area' called Philia.
1. Chapter 1: What The Glitch?

**Chapter I - What The Glitch!?**

A huge castle made of stone and steel floating in an endless sky. That was all this world was.

It took a destined few, the beta testers, one month to survey the place; the diameter of the base floor was about 10 kilometers. Above, there were 100 floors, including the base; its sheer size was unbelievable. It was impossible to even gander what each floor held, and how diverse they all were, all sizes of towns, villages, forests, deserts, jungles, each floor was never the same as the last in some way, shape or form.

Only one stairway through a central column could grant access to the next floor, guarded by a labyrinth of monsters, and a guardian to test those who would try; So discovering and getting through was not simply done, the only short cut between floors was the use of Teleport Gates once another floor was unlocked, yet the Beta Testers only ever made it to Floor 7.

The name of the castle was Aincrad, a world of swords launched to 10,000 on November 6th 2022. This new reality, otherwise known as...

Sword Art Online.

"Link Start!"

[Loading Personal Data...]

[Augmented Systems: Ready]

[Username: White Hat]

[Password: ***********]

[Language: **Japanese** / English]

**[][][]Welcome to Sword Art Online![][][]**

It took only seconds, but reality as White could visually perceive soon faded away at the bright lights, and automated logs of code, and diagnostics. Funny how such complex commands were created to only act in seconds, against a command that would take weeks to perform, but White wasn't an expert in this field, he just says what he sees, and what he saw is a whole new horizon. White wasn't alone in his journey though, an old friend of his would be greeting him real soon.

In a readjustment of light, White had entered the 'Central Nexus', It was a large, hexagonal room, with terminals to creating your characters, while observation screens allowed news headlines, and update notes to scroll. There were poles with adverts, sponsors, and even Future DLC hung like banners. Overall, the blue, black, and white flowing walls were nice and comforting touch, it was almost like drifting in a sea of code. This was a commonplace to design your first VRMMO character, or if you had played a previous one, you can convert its data to create a copy for SAO or other VRMMOs. White merely did just that, pressing the blue icon before him.

[Are you sure you wish to convert Saved Cloud Data? **Y** / N]

"Done." He both replied, and pressed the icon again, and soon he watched the code across his body begin to resign his body, making him feel tingling all over, his hair standing on end

In a small conversion of white and blue light, his vision was coated in a blinding force, making him wince again, yet his ringing ears soon adjusted to the large sound of people, the small breeze in the warm air, and once his eyes had adjusted under his glasses, he noticed the massive tower of smooth stone before him, the clock-bell above him, and many others that stood or warped in around him.

White wore black trousers, with hazel gloves and boots, his red tunic matched with his tanned, leather chestpiece and padding. A black belt of leather hugged his torso, and the feeling of a sword against his back made a twinge of excitement rush through his body, his heart pumping with unaltered bliss.

**Floor 1, Town Of Beginnings**

"Let's get this party started." White wasn't alone in that, with many cheering under the sound of fireworks going off around Aincrad

"I knew I'd find you! Seriously though, I've been waiting for ages~!" White slowly turned at the voice, his eyes finally focusing on the spunky girl before him. Her bright, red eyes, long, snow-white hair, wearing blue and white gear like himself

"I said I _may_ run late, what part of my message was unclear?" White's blunt excuse made her pause mid-speech, so she huffed, pointing a finger at his nose with her other hand on her skirt

"Hey, if you're late again, I might be stuck fighting for my life, then what would you do!?" She snapped back, and White blinked with a frown, looking to the Teleport Gate

"I'll wait to say 'I told you so'." If his bemused, and constant apathetic voice didn't drop the stone, then his answer sure did

"I...don't have a good reason against that. Ok...ok, how about this." She pointed to herself. "If I am in danger and need your help, you come to my aid as soon as you can, and vice versa for you, so that we won't be stuck waiting for the other to catch up, sound fair?"

"Hmm...fine, I can agree to that." White nodded once to his overly cheery friend, and she raised a fist towards him, and he counted with his own fist-bump. "Shall we get started then?"

"Let's make our way to the top of the world~!"

* * *

[Two Years Later...]

** Hollow Area Dec. 2024**

"Somebody once told me, the world was gonna roll me, I ain't the sharpest-ack!" A boy sung in amongst a tree before his foot had dislodged, now his face was planted firmly in the soil under the tree, a small, purple hexagon appearing for a second. His moral hadn't wavered though, since he simply chuckled, pushing his body backward, resting on his back for a moment to stare up at the sky through the tree line, rays of sunlight trickling through with the sound of animals and birds all around him

[White Hat - lvl 110]

The player, White Hat, was a toned boy with dark brown hair, his eyes a sharp silver underneath his blue-rimmed glasses. A red jacket ran down to his waist, with a white zipper, cuffs and collar, a flame split between the zipper itself, while also having a fur-lining across the hood. Under it was his black shirt and silver chestplate with a reflective red sheen, along with matching gauntlets and shin guards. A single, black fabric was tied to his back, trailing down to rest near his thighs.

Attached to his side sat a black scabbard, containing a silver sword with strange runes carved into the edge, the handle was a basic T-guard with a blue and silver tone and a rounded pommel too, the sword, Parting Glass.

**=Pause=**

"Sup, the name is White Hat, only drop the 'Hat'. I'm like any typical player of the newly integrated VRMMORPG known by the world as, Sword Art Online. It was the first major launch title, and during the beta and launch, it was a success, or, until the opening of the game came to a close." White looked almost saddened by this

"The creator, Akihiko Kayaba, had wired the Cardinal System to prevent anyone from leaving, if you died, the Nerve-Gear would fry you like a pop-tart in a microwave, yeah, it was pretty bad for the first few days. Now, two years later and we had our chance, a friend of mine stood up for all of us, and he fought Kayaba with everything he had. Yet something happened, and now...now we have twenty-five floors left."

**=Resume=**

White blinked for a moment, scratching his head while moving to his feet, taking in the strange surroundings of a forest. To him, this wasn't strange, but definitely weird, since the last location he was on the 77th Floor, fighting a more powerful than normal Wyvern, then 'poof' he felt a forced teleport throw him from a high altitude to a tree.

"Oooook? So where am I? Don't tell me Asuna finally decided to kill me!?" White didn't take the revelation too well, then he stopped seconds later, putting a hand to his chin. "Nope, wait...yeah, she would have done it publicly."

Suddenly, among the chips and movements of the forest, White's ear caught something fast, running towards him too, but the frantic steps sounded like the entity was frightened, a big difference between a creature out to kill you, and, what can be big enough to frighten it? A question he soon found to be closer than he expected, as a blue hood covering a player leaped over a tree, and was looking over their shoulder, not noting the frantic waving of White.

"Wait-wait-wait-wait!" It was too late, ocean blue eyes widened in surprise, yet the two collided, throwing White backward slightly, making him roll to his knees. Whilst the first yelped, tumbling backward, yet her left hand grasped the soil, pushing her body back into 'fight or flight', and her serrated sword was out now, and she was coming for White, a murderous gaze in her eyes

Quickly, White scampered to his feet, ducking as the horizontal strike sliced the air above him, followed quickly by a frightened downwards lunge, yet White jumped backward, grasping Parting Glass in his right hand, and swinging the blade to block her diagonal laceration from right to left. This was followed quickly after two quickdraws to form an 'X'. leaving White only to defend himself, blocking both at different angles, and deflecting her blows.

The strange girl wore whites and blues, with a blue coat over a tube top that has several shades of blue, a silver arm-guard on her right arm, thigh-exposing black shorts, and thigh-high black socks. A, a short, serrated sword for a dagger, a sword breaker, not good.

She continued to strike relentlessly like a startled person, her moves were precise and quick, but not strong, only a feeble attempt to push past White, who was left to constantly back away to gain some distance, yet the treeline wouldn't allow him for long. One powerful slant right to left diagonally allowed for White to view something above her head, something that made his heart skip slightly at the sight.

"She's an Orange Player?" White now felt less worried about hurting her, knowing his cursor wouldn't turn orange too, still didn't mean he'd kill her. Something was off about her, she was running from something or someone, and after crashing into each other, she only seemed to try and push White out of her way, so what had her running? Green Players? Red Players?

**=Pause=**

"Ok, this is by far, my worst day ever...wait...why do I feel like someone has said that before?" White then put a hand to his chin, tapping his sword against the crazy orange player's short sword. "Still, this chick's nuts, and I'm friends with Argo, this is a whoooole 'nother level, but...she looks frightened of something, guess I'll just ask her."

**=Resume=**

Not wanting to keep up the endless defence, White planted his foot firmly, then lunged down with his silver-edged sword, yet the Orange Player flipped her sword in her hand, striking upwards, and the blades locked with a large _clang_ of metal, the serrated edge holding their weapons tightly, while allowing the two to breathe. Yet the girl looked baffled at White's presence.

Yet the words spoken from her mouth, he never realized it then, but these words were the beginning to a whole journey, filled with torment, grief, hardships, and hatred. Yet something else brewed in that uncertain future ahead, little did the two know as of now.

"Who...are you?" She near-whispered

"Would you still stab me if I told you?" That made her ground her teeth, the two pushing against each other's weight. "Still...I get the feeling I should be asking that?"

While the two continued to stare each other down, that moment of silence never lasted, as soon as the two looked closely at each other, something caught the light, reflecting it in White's eyes, and he immediately went into panic mode. Pushing their weapons down, he grabbed the girl's shoulder, throwing the two of them down onto the ground in the process. When time slowed for them both, nothing but the silver face of a massive sword had cleaved the area, slicing the trees down around them, showering shards of glass to the sky, a rainfall of green and blue as White moved to his knees, with the girl followed suit, her eyes narrowed dangerously at the monster that caused the strike.

From the trees, large, sharp bones for legs dug into the thick bark and soft soil of the ground. Its massive, skeletal body pushing itself into the newly created clearing, four, gargantuan scythes hung in the air, their crimson lining dimmed from the sword skill it had used on its targets, yet only prevailed in slicing the foliage down.

"I'm guessing...'that's' the reason you were running?" White gulped, moving to his feet along with the player. The two standing to face the massive creature that had slaughtered over a dozen on Floor 75

**The Hollowreaper - lvl ?**

"Hehehehahaha! Heeey buddy, you've been...juicing?" White gulped, with the girl looking at him like he had lost his sanity. In response, Hollowreaper struck the ground next to White, indicating that this was the same 'Skull Reaper' he'd aided the Raid Team in defeating, or maybe the A.I's accuracy isn't as good as before. "Ok, so we're probably gonna die."

"Hmph, you can run if you want, I don't get a choice now." The girl replied to White's 'Joke', or 'Bad taste in humor'

"So, this normal for...wherever we are?" White asked, watching carefully at Hollowreaper, which was trying to find a way to pull its body through the forest behind itself, even digging its scythes into the ground to pull. At his question, the player scowled at him

"I have no intention on wasting time on people like you." The venom was clear in her voice, yet she hadn't noticed the scythe raising above her. So White moved ahead of her, striking upwards at the right moment to skate Parting Glass across the face of the scythe, parrying at he did, while he smiled, the girl only stared at him like an anomaly. "Wh-Why did you...?"

_"Ok, so I block it, but can I hurt it? Given the strength behind that parry, its far stronger than us, so maybe..."_ White continued to ponder on their next move, seeing how part of its body had clearly caught on something, preventing it from moving any closer, so that could be used to their advantage. "Right, I have an idea!"

"..." She didn't reply, so White placed his hands together like he was praying

"Pleeeease, if we work together we can beat this thing. You noticed the question marks too, this version of Skull Reaper is far too strong for one of us, but sword skill combos could hurt it." White quickly gave her the rundown, yet she didn't look convinced

"What's to stop me from simply striking you from behind? Why aren't you worried about that?" She asked him calmly, yet White merely ducked under another lunge of the crimson scythe, looking back at her with a smile like a child just playing a game, no malicious intent or fear, simply joy

"I don't. But someone told me once that he'd rather _'trust and regret than to not trust and regret'_, besides, you want to live too, right?" That reply made the player's body language chance to being more...relaxed, though she did keep a stern expression, her eyes did lighten slightly

"...I got it, I'll help you, just this once." Was her answer, and White grinned happily, swinging Parting Glass around in his hands

"Alright then, ante up!" White cheered, rushing Hollowreaper without a moment of hesitation. "I'll weaken it, when I give the word, switch!"

"Ok!" She replied, rolling under another arc of its scythes

White skipped to his left, spinning back the drive of the scythe-arm, sliding under the next that attempted to sweep his legs out from under him. Upon reaching the face of Hollowreaper, Parting Glass glowed a bright shade of yellow, reflecting off his armor.

[Sword Skill - Sloth]

He struck Hollowreaper across its face with a diagonal slash to the bottom left, then a diagonal slash from that point to the right, trailing the blade over its massive face, then he brought it down towards the left again in a diagonal slash, creating an 'S' mark, which made the massive boss scream, the yellow letter burning into its face, yet its reel back was slow, and sparks of lightning flashed across its body. Paralysis and Slowness. White jumped back, blocking a single strike from its right side, skating Parting Glass to redirect the scythe away from his stomach. White ran over the arm, charging his blade with bright blue this time.

[Sword Skill - Pride]

Bringing the gleaming light towards his face, White leapt up the side of Hollowreaper, driving the tip of Parting Glass through the Hollowreaper, hard, navigating the blade through its nose vertically, followed by two rapid strikes from left to right diagonally, then right to left diagonally, resembling a 'P' shape as Hollowreaper struck its own head, yet White leaped over the blade, spinning back onto his feet, as the symbol of 'Defense Down' appeared beside Slowness, yet Paralysis was gone, leading to its body burning with crimson flames, channeling dark light into its arms.

"Wait for it...Wait for it..." White stood still as a statue, and upon seeing the joints turn, his eyes widened. "Switch!"

White only took a moment to parry the twin thrusts of Hollowreaper's scythes, and yet the rush of blue and dandelion brushed past him like smoke. She was fast, and her blade glowed crimson too. But Hollowreaper's two left arms had turned a contrasting emerald to her malice red.

[Sword Skill - Silencing Strike]

White leaped back, seeing the two twin scythe's come flashing horizontally, yet the Orange Player spun into the air, her body flying between the two straight blades, flipping her short sword back upright again.

[Sword Skill - Shadow Stitch]

The girl spun in the air, roundhouse-kicking Hollowreaper twice, but during her third spin, she struck fast and hard against its eyes with her blade, etching a red, horizontal line through its face, sparks of lightning flash again.

"Switch!" She called, and White ran beside her, lunging with a sonic wave of mint green energy, calling out 'Sonic Leap', White then spun down to his knees, a scythe flying over his hair, but over his head was the girl, who planted her hand on the scythe, before striking out with two cross attacks. "Let's use sword skills together!"

"Like reading my mind." White smiled, and both charged their blades. White's a bright red, and the girl's a bright blue. Yet Hollowreaper's two extra scythes broke free of the tree line, all four limbs rising to glow a sickly green, they had mere seconds to act, an infinite moment to win

[Sword Skill - Solar Storm]

[Sword Skill - Lunar Crusade]

Unity - Hurricane Eclipse

The girl thrust her sword through the middle of its collar bone, twisting her body around to pull the blade upwards in a blue crescent, followed but a back-flip, swinging the blade down through the same line as before, then a kick, throwing herself back. At the same time, White sliced from right to left, then quickly left to right diagonally, followed by a spin of his blade in his hands, slicing several red arcs through random points across Hollowreaper's body. The twin result boosted their overall damage by 200%, with an afterburn of attacks, and finally, the third bar on the unknown level Skull Reaper was gone, resulting in its body tensing up, turning into a blue statue of light, before finally bursting into a flurry of glass.

They had beaten The Hollowreaper.

"Hollowreaper...I've never seen that monster before." The girl beside White replied, with White closing the 'reward tab', turning to face her again

"Seems its the reincarnation of Floor 75's boss, only with extra arms, and a new, red decal." White added

"Why would a floor boss be here?" She asked White as if he'd know the answer, which he was still questioning himself about

"No freakin' idea. All I know is, that wasn't a real fight." He paused, seeing her confused expression, so he turned to her with his arms crossed, but still smiling for some reason she couldn't understand. "Think about it, question marks covering the level means we would have died, yet we won, and it barely touched us. I get the feeling...we haven't seen the last of it yet."

A long, awkward paused now stretched between the two, with White trying to avoid the piercing stare from the Orange Player.

"So...to break this awkward tension, do we...really still have to fight?" He asked, slash, hoped she'd answer with a 'no'. Slowly, she lowered her sword to her side, placing it back in her sheave, while grasping her left arm with her right

"Are you really not one of them?" Her words threw White into a loop. One of them? There we other players here? Wherever here is, and how she asked, she sounded unsure of what White would say

"Ok, now I'm really confused, first you attack me, then you work with me, now you have no idea what I am...I mean, I come from Kanto IRL, and...myself and others have been here for two years?" White carefully added more to his answer, yet she breathed heavily, closing her eyes for a second

"You're not lying...but you see it...my cursor, right?" At her grim reply, White didn't waver, he merely kept his composure

"Yeah, its orange, actually matches your hair nicely." White commented like nothing was out of the ordinary, and that made her scowl return, but she looked hurt. "Okay, probably not the best way to put it."

"And that doesn't bother you? Why do you still talk to me like nothing is wrong?" Agitation was rising in her voice, yet White merely waved it off

"'Cause, I met orange and red players before, one of which is actually not such a bad guy. Plus you and I worked together to save each other, at any point you could have killed me and ran, but you didn't. Why would I find the colour of your cursor bothersome?" White knew how the system worked, but orange meant you attacked a player, but red meant you killed, and not a speck of red leaked from it. "If you don't mind..."

"...Fine...I killed someone." That answer made White's face turn to...confusion, as well as a growing mystery to him._ "If she killed someone, then why isn't...hmm."_

"Now do you see why hanging around me is a bad idea...still, thank you for the help back there...goodbye." Without another word, White watched the mysterious orange player turn back to the forest, moving past the trees Hollowreaper tore apart

"Wait a sec!" White blurted out, running up to her, as she turned on her heel against a tree

"Didn't I just say hanging around me is a bad-" _Please stop_

"I know-I know-I know, just...answer me one more thing?" She turned around completely to listen. "Where...are we? I mean, its SAO, but...where? I accessed my minimap a while ago, but it only showed me the name of this forest, not the floor?"

"To be honest, I don't know myself, ever since I was warped here a month ago." The girl replied though the thought of it made her emotionally tired. "I've spent more time surviving here than actually figuring out 'where' I am."

"Buuuut...my teleport crystals still work? Do you not have any?" White asked her, but she shook her head

"They do, other items and messages too, as for teleport crystals, I don't need any." The blunt reply only deflated White more, she was completely stoic about this. _"Why can't you just leave me alone?"_

"But what about-"

_**HOLLOW AREA ACCESS RESTRICTION HAS BEEN LIFTED**_

"That...doesn't sound normal, is that normal here? In...the Hollow Area?" White asked rapidly, looking around in the sky as if expecting something to appear, yet nothing did

"Wait, are you..." He turned his head back to the girl, who now stood closer to him

"Huh?" White merely tilted his head

"The pattern on your hand." Looking to where she pointed, White flipped his left hand over, and on it, sat a strange, golden symbol, it looked like Aincrad, only less iron, more glowing symbol. White responded by freaking out, rubbing the stop where the symbol glow regardless of his frantic attempts to shake it off

"Nope, not going through this again, last time a strange symbol was on my hand, I had to stop half the floors of Aincrad from being melted off, NOOOPE." White then looked to the girl warily, who grabbed his arm, pulling his hand to rest in hers

"Hold still...just...who are you...?" White didn't know how to reply to that, yet she stared intently at the symbol on his hand. "...I see, they're the same."

"You mind sharing your thoughts 'Scary Lady With A Knife'." She looked at him, bemused by his joke, yet he chuckled. "What, you haven't given me your name, so what else was I to call you?"

"You can't see it?" Her eyes glanced up for a second

"I turned that off, I only see the cursor. Makes things more formal, though that's the same with mine." White responded in-kind. "Anywho, you were saying something about this symbol being the same?"

"Yes, I saw something that had the same marking as your hand."

"Then that's where I'll go...if you would lead me there since I have absolutely no idea where I am." White grinned, but she kept her poker face straight

"I don't mind...but are you sure you want to trust me, and orange - no, a red player?" _A murderer,_ came her unsaid thought, yet White shrugged

"Yeah, I'm concerned. But hey, you've helped me out this much, any normal PKer would have killed me by now, plus...you don't look bad to me, call it...a hunch." That single reason still made her keep a small distance, yet her head felt more at ease, something about his laid-back attitude was a better change of pace than simply running into...whatever those other 'people' are. "I'm White Hat, just drop the 'Hat', and you are?"

"...Philia." White grinned at that, noting her still stiff movements

"If you still don't know what to make of me, that's fine." His reassurance did make Philia raise a brow. "Sometimes, you just have to take a chance. Still, it's nice to meet you, Philia." Finally, a small smile broke her stoic expression

"Nice to meet you too." Then, she frowned again, but White did take a little pride in knowing she wasn't always moody. "I still don't know if you're really kind or really stupid."

"I think a bit of both, makes one more tolerable, eh?" White replied

"Then I guess I'm in good hands, come on, let's go." Philia walked ahead, following the gaps in the trees to an exit from the forest, White merely followed close behind, happy to just have someone he could trust in a strange new world

To Be Continued...

[][][]~-[Sword Art Online: Hollow Reborn]-~[][][]

Written by Silent Slender

OP 1 - The Rock City Boy

* * *

I had this archived and thought I'd upload the chapters anyways. I like the games, wished the Anime went the same way, but hey, I like them both. Hope you liked the start of White Hat and Philia's adventure in the Hollow Area! Seeya in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: Story - [Stranger Things]

Now on-route to where Philia recognizes the symbol, White Hat begins to learn a little more about 'The Hollow Area', and of its dangers. Question is, how will his friends take it if he makes it back to Floor 76?


	2. Chapter 2: Stranger Things

**Arc 1 - Unlikely Pact **

**Chapter II - Stranger Things**

** Hollow Area - Selvendys Forest Area **

After a short walk out of the woods of Selvendys, White Hat and Philia found themselves out into a clearing, to their left, sat two sites containing knights, and wasps next to large ruins, one of which had a door wide open, the large, wooden doors rotten, or covered in vines and other assorted flora. The other was behind a large mound, but the tips of pillars could be seen. The centerpiece to their eyes was the momentous tree that covered the top of a massive temple, its thick roots acting as arches into its ruins, leaves even acted as rain falling from the sky, despite the lack of clouds.

**=Pause=**

"White again, just to give the rundown of my day, I was forcibly teleported from Aincrad to a strange place called the 'Hollow Area', even met my new guide, a rather powerful player named Philia, she's apparently might know what this strange symbol on my hand means, it could also be my way out too." White held his hand out, the golden symbol dimming slightly, but still visible

"Whatever this place is, I'm seeing monsters I've faced and others I've never seen before, one thing's for certain, I'm definitely coming back here."

**=Resume=**

"That's where we're going, down there." Philia and White stopped before a cliff, with a small, grassy path leading down the side of the cliff-face, yet White's gaze only brightened considerably at the sight before him

It was the largest canyon he had ever seen, with several waterfalls breaching the sides, a massive cloud of mist rising from the momentous canyon. The clear, blue sky only added to the glow of gold that shot into the center of the canyon from the gargantuan, black metal sphere, the gold infecting the sides like webbing, as pieces circled and hung in-place where the gold light broke free.

"Woah...what my friends wouldn't give to see this." White was star-struck by the sight, but shook his head to focus, gesturing to the cliff below. "After you." Philia nodded, hopping down with White following suit, and the two began their journey down the canyon wall

* * *

Serpentis Sea of Trees

After another short walk past some lower leveled mobs, the two stood before a crack in the maze of a forest.

"Ok, all we have to do it make our through here to an obelisk with the same marking as your emblem," Philia explained, then she eyed White for a moment. "You ready?"

"Ever since you made me hit my thirties with your surprise hello thirty minutes ago, I think I'm more than prepared." His reply only made her roll her eyes and move on ahead. White just waved for her to wait up. "Oh come oooon, where's your sense of humor?"

* * *

Once past the small cave entrance, the two were greeted to a massive maze of pathways, with Philia pulling up her already explored map, showing many dead-ends and pathways leading to what looked to be 'Big Red Dots', most likely 'Named Monsters'. But for White, while she allowed him to see her menu, something bothered him.

"Ok, where are we? As in, where's the floor?" White questioned, only seeing the map point to 'Hollow Area'

"As far as I could figure out, this place doesn't register under any Floor, but do you remember how you got here?" Philia asked, putting the map away, and closing her menu

"Aye, I was minding my own business, taking a stroll through the wyvern-infested floating islands of Floor 76, then 'POOF', forcibly thrown into this place, you know the rest." White answered her with dramatic flair in his arms, yet Philia crossed her arms, not minding his extra added character

"But the only difference between both our forced teleports is that I don't have that symbol on your hand." Philia put the contrast between them, then she looked to the area ahead of them, noting the two Orcs and Boar. "I haven't seen another player with that symbol either."

"Wait, we're not alone?" He blinked, yet that same, strange look she had given him when they met returned

"Yeah...but they're...strange." Philia's question left White baffled for a moment, simply pursing his lips with a raised brow at the subjective answer

"Have you met me? About everyone I know is more 'normal' than me." His self-jab did little to phase her

"Trust me, its difficult to explain, you'll just have to see it for yourself." Philia replied with a sigh before the two continued down the path into the forest ahead

_**THE PREDETERMINED TIME HAS BEEN REACHED. THE APTITUDE TEST WILL NOW BEGIN**_

"Ok, that sounded bad, do you think that's bad, I think it's bad? What's with that bloody announcement again?" White rambled to himself, Philia only looked from the sky herself, back to White, her eyebrow twitching. "First this symbol, now an Aptitude test. Philia, you know anything about this?"

"I don't know! Don't ask me!" She snapped, turning back to the forest ahead, with White in-toe

"Hehehe, sorry, tend to ramble when in 'fight or flight' mode." White rubbed the back of his neck, yet grabbed Parting Glass from its sheave on his back. "Still, I get the odd feeling we have to kill something."

"It said aptitude test, so you might be right." Philia drew her own blade, yet a mad-like grin crossed White's face

"Then lets crack it open, and get to that obelisk!" White charged ahead, leaving Philia behind to watch her crazy partner run ahead. White wasted no time in striking the High Power Boar ahead of him, the larger pig not noticing the player's shadow until it was too late, White leapt from above, sawing his sword through its spine, his sword glowing mint green again, 'Sonic Leap' thrusting him through the Boar, slicing it in two, whilst etching a green line through the Orc Crusher ahead, a burst of blue following behind White

Ducking under the shield bash of the Orc, White rolled to his left, avoiding the axe of the second Crusher. Rushing to stand behind the Orc Crusher, White slid his middle and index fingers across the face of Parting Glass, the sword beginning to glow a light blue, and his eyes had opened with a sharp glow of silver and blue.

[Sword Skill - Horizontal]

The horizon was cut clean, a gust of wind was the only thing left, the Orc Crusher now shards of glass falling around White, with the last Orc Crusher bursting through the collection of shards, only to see White's inverted grip, the blade a golden tone, and his cocky grin.

[Sword Skill -Vertical]

With the same fashion as before, a powerful uppercut sliced the Orc in two, the two halves turned to shards in mere seconds, with Philia walking up to him, her gaze trying to figure out what was going on in his head. She had never met someone quite like him, he was optimistic, and he fights like the mere mention of 'Death Game' had no ill will to him. He was in complete sync with the world he stood on.

"Umm...It's amazing how you can stay so positive at a time like this." Philia's reply made him turn on his heel, placing the sword against his shoulder

"Well, the only way to know what lies ahead is by slicing our way forwards." He then darted around, closing tabs from the drops with a glow in his eyes. "Besides, the prospect of loot no-one has ever touched before will make me a fortuuuune, Argo will be begging me to tell her everything, hahahahaha!" While White was busy in his moment, a tiny smile made its way to Philia's face again, but only for a moment

"I'm leaning more towards 'Stupid' than 'Kind' after-all." Philia's blunt response made him trip, falling flat onto the ground ahead of them. This made her cross her arms, tilting her head down to look at him. "I was right to worry."

"Aww...I thwuht I wus kind?" Came the muffled reply of dirt and White's face. "Lets gooooo..."

_"Talk about changing on a dime."_ Her own thoughts spoke with her curious expression

* * *

Later...

"I'm guessing its...that one." White pointed with a narrowed sarcasm, his finger pointed at the massive, brown Minotaur ahead, carrying a big, two-handed battle axe, whilst a red aura surrounded its body, adding to its already intimidating stance, its large, twisted horns making it stand even taller than what it actually was

**NM Muscle Bull Horn - lvl 95**

"How should we deal with it?" Philia pondered, both of them resting against the rock they hid behind, the ground shaking slightly from the massive steps the Bull Horn took, a snort or two gave its position away. "It has a weapon that can reach us at a distance."

"Probably A.O.E attacks too." White clicked his fingers in her direction, Philia nodded, banking that information with what they know

"We can try the same tactic with Hollowreaper. Attack it from the front and back, forcing the A.I to try and focus on us both, then use a combo skill." Philia laid down the basic tactic she mapped out in her head

"Oh, like our Unity move, Hurricane Eclipse!" She turned her head with a bewildered expression

"'Hurricane Eclipse'?" She echoed

"Aye, since you used your 'Lunar Crusade' and my 'Solar Storm', I made a unity name for it." Not a single word left Philia's mouth, instead, all he got was her blunt stare, at that, he raised his hands, pouting. "Hey, I thought it was pretty creative!"

"Come on, we have a boss to get through, the obelisk is past it." Philia didn't want to admit it was a pretty good name

Without a second left to lose, the two leapt into the opening, Bull Horns took notice of the players, his eyes shining red at the sight, and within the frame of agro, he charged towards them, head lower to try and charge them down. Both Philia and White dashed to either side of Bull Horns, who stomped his hooves into the ground to stop himself, before grasping the battleaxe in both hands, swinging the massive neck of the axe around behind him, forcing the two to block the attack, the wind forced against them slightly.

Bull Horns quickly grasped his axe in both hands, swinging the large head towards Philia, tearing apart the ground in the process, so she turned, parrying the attack at the mere second the blades were about to graze her, causing the metal to ring, her feet skidding across the grass. Yet Bull Horns raised its axe, now glowing bright green.

[Sword Skill - Napalm]

With a single tilt backward, the axe came crashing down where Philia was previously, a bright, green light erupting from the surface and soon blinding light shattered the area, throwing her across the forest clearing, chipping away at her health slightly.

White had to backflip quickly to avoid a massive lunge of the axe, followed quickly by a small wind-up, the two horns of the axe nearly impaling him against a tree. Seeing an opportunity for Philia, White stood firm to the ground, motioning for the Bull Horns to charge him again. Accepting the challenge, the Minotaur roared, charging for White with its axe held to its right. It was then that a blinding flash of purple sliced a blue line across the Named Enemy's knees, followed by another diagonal laceration from the left, forcing Bull Horns to its knees, a stun effect in-place.

[Sword Skill - Vorpal Strike]

In a flash of gold, White's sword acted as a weight tied to his arm, the force of lightning crackling through Bull Horns' side like fire, slicing through with a gold line. White planted Parting Glass into the ground quickly, swinging his body back around, the sword burning the grass with a white and red glow, his legs touching the ground once more.

[Sword Skill - Wrath]

A powerful skill, inflicting guaranteed Bleed and Darkness. From the middle of Bull Horns' back, White made two lines of a pyramid, followed by a strike from left to right, then the same going right to left, creating a searing, red 'W' on its spine, and blasting the boss forwards, right where Philia's own emerald green Sword Breaker and White swore he saw her smile devilishly at the sight of the second bar of health entering the red.

"Use a Sword Skill now!" Philia called back to White, who saw how the Bull Horns axe began to glow ice-blue, so the two channeled their sword skills, with White's glowing a bright gold once more

[Sword Skill - Vorpal Strike]

[Sword Skill - Armour Pierce]

Unity - Break Beat Bark

In a burst of golden fire, and a surge of emerald light, both White and Philia shot through Bull Horns like trails of comets amongst the stars, their green and gold lines intercepting across its chest and spine, a crack of thunder, crossed with the shattering of metal, the last of its health dropping out completely, a star-struck expression across the Mythological beast's face as it dropped the axe, and soon, turned into a flurry of glass among the forest.

**[][][]~-[Hollow Mission Complete!]-~[][][]**

[Rewards]

-10 Hollow Points

-10 Area Points

-1000 COL

_**CLEAR CONFIRMED. THE APPROVAL PHASE WILL NOW END**_

"Yaaaay, we won." The small response from White killed the tension at the announcement, yet the mark remained, and his expression dropped. "Oh great, you're still stuck to me."

"Hey what's wrong?" Philia asked him, yet only saw him look back to the sky for a moment, noting the sphere that shadowed them due to the sun's location

"Oh, just thinking is all." White waved off, looking back to his hand with the symbol

"Like what?" Philia walked passed him, so he followed her up the small hill towards the cliff ahead

"Just that Hollow Area's auto messages keep saying words Kirito would say, like 'Testing Phase' and 'Aptitude', makes it sound more like a testing grounds than a floor section in Aincrad, or wherever we are," White answered with his thoughts on the strange Hollow Area, he did have a few other ideas, but without evidence they'd be useless and void. "So far, my theories on this place revolve around a testing ground or hidden area that can only be accessed under certain conditions."

"..." Philia stopped moving for a moment

"Say, you were thrown in here a month ago, aye?" She silently nodded, and White pursed his lips again. "Then we may have ended up here thanks to a glitch back on Floor 75's Boss, after Kirito fought Kay-er, Heathcliff."

"I see..." Philia spoke softly, her face seemingly unamused, and more than her usual tone

"What's wrong? You're...actually quite miffed about something from what I can see?" White carefully asked her, and Philia looked to him like she was mentally drained by what he had broken down for her

"Its just...I've been investigating for so long, and I haven't a clue on where I am or why this place exists...You've been here a few hours and have already discovered more than what I could find, even labeling the cause for the forced teleport." White didn't say anything, and Philia breathed heavily, looking back at the sphere. "Don't get me wrong, we've found alot, its just...annoying, knowing how easy it was for you to figure it out."

"I haven't figured anything out," White responded simply, tapping the side of his head. "I ain't smart, I just...have a different perspective on reality, I'm game-smart, not smart-smart. Besides, if not for you, I wouldn't have gotten this far on my own."

"Ugh...this is a disgrace for a Treasure Hunter." Philia groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose, yet White raised an eyebrow

"'Treasure Hunter', you've piqued my interest." White moved back a little to listen closely, causing Philia to shift for a moment

"It's Self-Proclaimed' since no actual jobs exist in SAO." Philia elaborated, the two near the top of the cliff which overlooked the way they had traveled in. "I found that delving into dungeons and gaining rare items was more my style, and since I was here, it was more efficient for survival."

"So you've maxed out your search and sneak skills?" She shook her head

"I'm close, but it also makes me weaker against monsters." White snorted at that. "..."

"Tell that to Hollowreaper and Bull Horns, for a Treasure Hunter, you got more power than most." White's compliment would have been answered back by Philia, if not for him darting over to a strange, dark blue obelisk that floated near the cliff's edge. "Ooooh, can I touch it?"

"...It has the same symbol on your hand, maybe its the key to accessing...somewhere, but I have a hunch its that sphere." Philia suggested, but before White went to press his hand to the obelisk. "Hey...could I...go with you?"

"Huh? I thought you were coming from the beginning? Sure." White blinked, seeing Philia move closer to him, before he smiled, pressing his hand to the same symbol, the relaxed sensation of being closer to finding a way out only made him happier. "Boop."

*FWOOSH*

* * *

**Hollow Area - Administration Area**

"Aaaaand...yes, that ugly symbol is gone, woot!" White pumped his fist, the two stepping towards the large area before them. "Ok i'll admit it, this is pretty cool."

The entirety of the sphere acted like a central processor for information, with screens displaying stats of Aincrad, almost all the floors were highlighted green on one screen, whilst the others above it remained red, it could monitor the floor progression. Across the walls where waves of gold code, constantly changing and in motion. Yet before them sat a black, rectangular platform, with a screen displaying a map White had never seen before, even Philia looked slightly taken back by the size of the map.

"Glad to know I was right." Philia released a breath of relief, whilst White walked up to the black rectangle before them, noting how the ground under them was like glass since it seemed to be more to the sphere than simply this one room

"No enemies too...could be a safe area." White muttered, and suddenly Philia became pale

"Wait...a safe area...?" Philia's reaction only drew blanks in White's head. "If it is, then...where's the guardian?"

"Wait...safe zones have guardians?" White felt static only rise in his memories, then he clapped his hands. "Nope never heard of them!"

"They protect safe zones from Orange and Red Players, if one were to enter a safe zone they'd be stopped by a guardian." Philia answered for him, yet White looked confused by this

"Why am I only now hearing about this?" White questioned

**=Pause=**

"Ok, someone mind telling me when Guardians are mentioned in Aincrad, cause I swear they never existed before now, did they? Questions for later." White drooped, placing his hand on the platform behind him

**=Resume=**

Suddenly, White was startled by the sound of keys being typed behind him, when he turned, the platform had turned into a massive keyboard, bringing up smaller screens below the map of what he could only assume to be the Hollow Area, and if so, the map seemed to be made of six different areas. The place they met was a forest, the next looked to be a floating fortress, then that lead to a beach, followed by a strange, sandy hole, the last looked like the forest, but darker. One the map was a yellow dot atop the sphere, which might be where they were.

"Hey, Philia, I did a thing." White pointed to the keyboard, and she came over to investigate. "Lets see...past experiences with a keyboard that glows tells me to press something...uhh...boop."

Upon pressing what looked to be the 'Enter' key, a screen lit up.

"You shouldn't make a habit of pressing every button you see." Philia sighed, crossing her arms against her chest

[Hollow Console Room]

Teleport To Another Area

Access authorized. Unlocking teleport object control area.

Element Implementation

"The Hollow Console Room? Element Implementation?" Philia repeated the words displayed, yet when she reached over to press one of the tabs, several beams of code trailed across the ground and under their feet, making the two step back, Philia was then greeted by the smug look on White's face. "What?"

"You shouldn't make a habit of pressing every button you see." Repeating Philia word-for-word in a girly tone made her narrow her gaze, yet her cheeks did turn red slightly, to distract her, he pointed to a small platform behind them, with a small trapezium back, and two smaller obelisks to the sides. "That lit up from whatever we did."

"This...might be a teleport gate...but it looks different." Philia analyzed

"Great, we have our way home, now...wait..." White looked to Philia, who stood with a plane look on her face

"I know, my cursor." Was her bland answer

"Still, you don't very happy about this either way." White questioned, not feeling as happy as before knowing she couldn't leave, not if these 'Guardians' do come for her

"Do I look that way?" White had never seen someone so...detached from reality, just saying that made him realize how isolated she was here, its probably not a good feeling, seeing someone leave yet you can't follow. "I can't go back...so you should go. I guess its goodbye from here on out...I...did have fun, despite everything."

White slowly walked onto the platform, brushing his hand to the obelisk to his right, then, a new thought came to his mind, and an idea to boot.

**=Pause=**

"I honestly feel bad for Philia, she shouldn't have to do this alone, atleast not after finding out she's been stuck here for a whole month." White sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I might just have an idea."

**=Resume=**

"Well...since this is active now, I can probably come back here once I straighten out my 'disappearance', so don't go too far, eh?" White declared, patting the stone his hand rested on, not noticing the strange look on Philia's face. "The whole area's a mystery, Bosses running around the field, enemies never seen in Aincrad before, and the labyrinth tower is nowhere in sight. In a word, this place bloody strange."

"Yeah...strange." Philia half-mindlessly answered, but White's bemused expression emerged

"You're thinking about me saying that, weren't you?" Seeing his expression did make her crack a smile. "I can understand how you feel though...so if come back here, message me and I'll meet you here."

"Right-o, next time I drop in and message you." White clapped, moving to stand in the middle of the teleport gate

"I won't hold my breath." Philia replied with her frown back on display

"And hey, not to mess with you, I think its better when you smile. Seeya, Philia!" White winked. "Teleport, Arc Sophia!"

Within a flash of blue light, White Hat had vanished from the Hollow Area, leaving Philia to stand in silence by herself again, the sudden drop in volume was nearly creepy to hear.

"I'll see you...again," Philia said goodbye, yet her hand moved to rest on the obelisk White placed his hand. "Teleport, Arc Sophia."

There was another flash of light, yet her hand was still on the obelisk, she herself was still standing in the Control Room.

**_SYSTEM ERROR. YOU ARE UNABLE TO TELEPORT FROM THE HOLLOW AREA_**

At that announcement, her fingers dug against the smooth surface of the teleport gate, her eyes shaken slightly.

"...What...am I?"

* * *

**Arc Sophia, Floor 76**

"Hehehehahaha, I am ALIIIIIVE~!" White cried out to the world around him, falling to his knees for a moment to bask in the glory of freedom, and of course, he saw the labyrinth in the distance. "Oh, how I missed the sight of that horrid maze!"

Standing up again, White quickly turned to bring up the menu on the teleport gate, thankfully, among the only two teleport locations, a third was added, 'Hollow Area'. But that did make him think to his latest encounter.

"Still...Philia didn't look like the type to PK, in-fact, she was almost as lost as me...perhaps I can help her with that cursor somehow? I think Argo might know something about it..." White muttered aimlessly to himself. "Just who is she, besides a Treasure Hunter of course."

"Well-well-well, look who's back from the dead?" White jumped high at the sound of the snarky tone behind him, when he came back down to earth, several people stood before him

One, a guy clothed in black, with matching eyes and hair, with two rare swords on his back, Dark Repulser, and Elucidator. The Black Swordsman, Kirito. To his right, stood a man in strange, black and grey armor, with gold attached to his arms, legs, and helmet, with some built into his chest. Around his neck was a long, black scarf, which fell against his black katana with a gold 'U' shaped hilt called, Skiajati. He was actually White's friend from another game, how he got here still baffled the two of them, but he went by the name of his suit. Umbra Excalibur.

The last person was an old friend. She had brown eyes and curly golden-brown hair. She wore full-body cloth and leather armour, a hooded cloak and also had whiskers on her face, which were originally a mark from a quest, but now a makeup of her choice. Her weapon of choice were wrist-mounted claws, which she hangs at her left waist. To anyone, she's 'The Rat', but to White, she was Argo.

**=Pause=**

"We already met Argo back...well, whenever the first chapter started, she's been my friend in other games and VR for a few years now, to put it simply, she really 'is' my best friend." White's eye quickly twitched. "Now comes the fun part."

**=Resume=**

"Oh, great, I get myself out of hell, only to find the rat waiting to pick me clean." White grumbled, making Argo nudge his side

"Aww, don't act like you don't miss little ol' me?" That sweet grin nearly made White fall for her trap. "So, what brought you to the point of dropping off the face of the world?"

"Wait what?" White blinked, seeing Umbra shake his head

"Your coordinates went dark after...I'd say eight hours ago, at first I thought it was just a technical bug, then others began to assume the worst, an unlikely story, but Argo managed to keep that under wraps." Umbra recalled, thinking back to how Kirito said it was 'happening all over again', though he himself wasn't worried either

"Thank you, thank you." Argo bowed proudly, then she grinned, pointing a thumb at Kirito. "Still, Kii-boy and Cal here had to keep A-Chan from blowing a fuse, thinkin' much worse than what was."

"Took me forever to repair my chest-piece, this bloody Tenno armor ain't cheap for Christ sake!" Umbra yelled to the high heavens

"Ugh, don't remind me. Still, what happened? Did you get stuck in an anti-crystal zone?" Kirito asked curiously, yet White scratched his cheek sheepishly, then yawned

"Well lets go back to the inn and I'll explain everything, just...oh boy..." White grimaced at what was to come

"Hehehehe, I bet they won't be too pleased by your sudden appearance after vanishing from reality, great work, Whitey." Argo chuckled, making White beg for the world to open up and swallow him whole

"Ugh, To Be Continued..."

* * *

I love doing fourth-wall breaks, and I always planned to add Umbra Excalibur from Warframe into this, his personality is actually based off of me when I play the game, so expect...dramatics, and sarcasm. Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: Players and Pieces

A flashback to when White Hat encountered his old friend, Umbra. And White relays all that had occurred in the Hollow Area, and what he plans to uncover there, with a little help from the Rat.


	3. Chapter 3: Players and Pieces

**Arc I - Unlikely Pact**

**Chapter III: Players and Pieces**

**1 Month Ago**

He could feel it, the heat of the sun over Arc Sophia beating down on his face. White was sweating, even with his gloves, the tension within each finger shook like mountains ready to blow, his eyes kept themselves glued to the stack of cards before him, it wasn't easy, but his draw, this single draw would be life or death, if he didn't have faith in the Gods, he did now.

Slowly, he placed his index and middle finger down on the stack, without a second to lose, he swiped it up, but among the turn, his eyes glanced shakily at his enemy, that sharp smile, the cat-like eyes that burrowed into his own silver gaze, those whiskers that were real or fake, he'd never know, until. NOW!

"Blackjack, Rat." White smugly smiled to Argo, who slammed her cards on the table, she had three cards, all adding to twenty, yet for White, he placed an Ace, and two kings, he had won with the luck of a draw, and Ace of Spades. Now Argo was defeated, shaking her head. "Alright, time you paid up, Argo."

"Yeah...hehehe, you really want to know?" That coy smile only made White slam his fist onto the barrel they played on, with a nod, Argo touched her cheek with a finger. "They're fake, decided to get a cosmetic to allow me to paint them on."

"But why would you do that?" White curiously asked her, she merely chuckled at a sore memory

"I...uhh, kind-of tried to do the martial arts quest back in beta, didn't realize that I couldn't cancel the quest, so these whiskers were stuck on my face, hence why Kii-Boy, and others call me 'Rat'." Argo smiled at the memory, rubbing her left cheek at the thought, meanwhile, White had written it all down in a book he held, causing Argo to freak out. "Wait, what are you doing!?"

"Huh? I'm documenting stuff I find out. Things about the people I meet, Sword Skills, Bosses, anything for when we make it out of this place." White smiled, writing down the origin of Argo's whiskers next to her Alias. "Aaaaand, done. Also, I have another question?"

"It'll cost ya." She placed her finger and thumb together in a circle, giving him a sharp stare

"Well, tell me, if you saw the sky bleed code, is that a bad thing?" White's simple question threw Argo through a loop

"Uhh, depends, why?" She then followed to where he was pointing, whilst White took a sip of his drink

"Oh, just that up there." Where he pointed, something fell from a rip in the sky, followed by what could only be described as a girl screaming

The body of an armored man fell from the rip, which had quickly closed itself up again upon the man's exit, leaving him to fall onto the steep, tiled roof of a tower. He then flew off it, spinning in the air towards a batch of houses.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Fuck! Ow! ahhhhHHHHHH-ow..." Finally, he came crashing down close to Argo and White, the two running over to where a small group of players and NPCs watched the armored man groan on the ground in pain. "I knew staying in that survival for more than an hour was a bad idea...but why me, take Jack, not me, Universe."

**Umbra Excalibur - lvl 125**

Upon arriving at the scene before them, Argo was completely star-struck by the player's appearance, seeing a literal space ninja before the crowd of players, however, it was White's reaction that made everyone question what was really going on, as if by some miracle, White recognized the look and tone of voice the player had.

"This...isn't Warframe, is it?" Umbra groaned, seeing the more fantasy-like setting over bloodied corridors of Infested, yet his head finally turned to White, who happened to smile brightly at the sight of the ninja, who merely tilted his head. "No bloody way, is that you, White?"

"MY BEST BUDDY IS BACK!" Was his reply

"Ok...where am I?" Umbra spoke with just as much confusion as to the group of players observing him, yet he was quickly strangled by White hugging him with a laugh. "Hey, Boss?"

"Hmm?" White blinked with a big smile, then he saw the sword next to his throat

"I love hugs as much as the next guy, but for all that is holy, you're denting my...WARFRAME!" White was thrown back to Argo, who quickly spun him around to keep him straight, herself blinking with confusion

Umbra now looked at his body as if he were a horrific beast of nature, he patted his arms, looked at his back and legs with continuous worry.

"My Dread. Lex Prime. Fashion. Nooooooooo~!" He fell to his knees in utter agony, feeling his heart begin to break under his armor. Then he carefully patted his katana. "Atleast you never left me. You too, Umbra."

"Ok, Whitey, what is going on?" Argo slowly questioned the scene before her, so White regained his composure, yet Umbra was well ahead of him, rubbing the back of his head

"Sorry...my name..." He looked up, noting his user had changed. "Is Umbra, nice to meet you."

* * *

**Present Day, Arc Sophia Floor 75, Inn**

After a small walk with Umbra, Kirito, and Argo; White arrived with them at the Streamline Inn, the sun now set across Floor 76, as the four walked up to the large, oak doors, where they could already catch the faint smell of food and the sound of laughter. Despite its bleak exterior, the Inn was surprisingly big, and homely, something White surely needed after he explained the situation to everyone.

"I MADE IT BACK ALIVE!" Kicking the doors open, White walked in with a smile on his face, greeted merely by the sight of his friends, slash, enemy staring right back. There was the Dragon Tamer, Silica. The Blacksmith, Liz. The mysterious girls from two separate games, one of which was Kirito's sister, Leafa and Sinon. The con-artist himself, Agil. Umbra's newly made friend, Klein. Then there was Kirito's girlfriend, Asuna, and their daughter, much to everyone's surprise, say for White, Yui. One person remained, how did White know? Cause a shadow loomed over him

"Wait-Wait-Wait-MHMN!?" Within seconds of entry, the only other person to rival White's optimistic personality was Strea, who now was suffocating White with her chest, his face turning a deep shade of red, his arms flailing for someone to help him. _"I can't breathe~!"_

"I'm glad I never take this armor off." Umbra sighed, patting his chestplate, then he saw the weak swing of White's arms. "Uhh, Strea, you're killing the man."

"Aww, but he's just so cute!" White wouldn't say he was cute, more so that the word wouldn't best describe him, but given how she had pushed him out of death's door, he'd take it with a grain of salt. "Sorry, I just missed you."

"Clearly...Strea, missed...you too." White breathed slowly, trying to calm his racing heart back down, whilst noting the others, waving weakly. "I'm baaaack."

"So, just like I said, right? He's only wandering around, and would be back in no time." Sinon sighed, not really phased by White disappearance. "Asuna and everyone worry too much."

"Well, given today, I can make an exception." White thanked her, then he did a double take. "Wait, 'Asuna' was worried about, 'Me'?" Turning to look at her, he noted how she avoided his gaze with a frown. "As in you heard her say these words coming out of Asuna's mouth?"

"What? If you died, how do you think Kirito, Argo, Umbra, and Strea would feel?" White instantly dropped it and turned back to the rest

"Fair point. Anyways..." White nervously looked to the twitching eye of Liz. "Hit me."

"Wh~ite~! You apologize right now!" Liz pointed at him, so he chuckled nervously

"Aye, I'm very, very sorry, but I have a good reason, trust me," White reassured them, sitting down on a chair before them all. "Try 'Game Breaking' and come back to me."

"Game Breaking?" Sinon questioned, and everyone sat down to listen, with White rubbing the back of his head where he fell into the tree hours ago

"Aye, I was up on Floor 77, out in the forests when 'FWOOSH', force teleport, and I end up stuck in a hidden section of Aincrad." That made some of them look to one-another

"You mean a forced teleport like me, Sinon and Leafa dragged you to a closed section of SAO? Damn, I'm getting bad flashbacks to a bunch of tiled roofs." Umbra felt his both twitch at that, yet White nodded

"I wasn't even labeled as a floor, just the 'Hollow Area'. Dun, dun, duuun." White joked

"So a place segregated from the rest of Aincrad?" Kirito summed up, placing his hand against his chin._ "Was it the glitch on Floor 75 that did this?"_

"Lots of high-leveled monsters, mostly new models and stuff, even Boss-Type monsters roaming the areas." At that bad news, the room died down, with Klein nearly falling from his seat, with Silica clutching Pina tightly

"H-high level monsters..." Silica nervously replied, with Pina whining with concern

"You serious! The bosses just walk about the place like its nothing!?" At his outburst, some looked over at their group, and the glares from the girls managed to slow him down. "Heh, sorry about that, but come on, when has this happened outside of events?"

"Not ever, maybe Named Monsters, but SAO was never known for spawning Floor-Level Bosses in the fields unless this 'Hidden Area' is somehow unique." Kirito reinforced what White saw, from the Hollowreaper's appearance, it was clear Philia had high-stakes against her all the time. Then White clapped his hands excitedly, looking to Kirito who was also gaining a grin

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" White mused, with Argo rolling her eyes, but a sharp, toothy grin crossed her face

"Ooooh, I'm getting in on this." Argo joined them in saying what was on their minds

"New Loot!" White pumped his fist, slapping it against Kirito's

"New Skills!" Kirito replied, both feeling Argo reach up too

"More COL!" No surprises from Argo's response

"Hey, Yui, do you know anything about it?" Asuna asked the little girl with a kind smile, and for a moment, Yui shut her eyes, then she sat up straight

"It's true that there are various areas not open to players due to many specifications." Yui had analyzed the Cardinal System time-and-time again, and she remembers seeing areas similar to what White described as the 'Hollow Area', but never anything more than their purpose and existence. "But they are all locked once the game started, and can only be accessed by Admin commands or the Cardinal System."

"Doesn't explain how the boss got sent there." Umbra pointed out to her, yet Yui was quick to respond

"Yes, that shouldn't be possible, but ever since Floor 75's Boss was defeated, the Cardinal System has become unstable. So...its not entirely impossible." Yui elaborated, yet White chuckled nervously

"Yeeeeah, no. Rattle Me Bones is still alive and kicking with two extra arm-scythe-things." White waved his arms high, yet Kirito and Asuna went completely pale

"Hold up, you saying that thing's in the Hollow Area?" Agil brought back, and White paused, waving his hand side to side

"Somewhat? It was called 'Hollowreaper', the level was all missing, and had red trimming, but me and Philia took care of him, for now, I doubt its dead." White then realized what he just said, blinking. "Oh, right, I met a player there too, she tried to kill me, then we fought a few enemies, helped each other out, and boom, here I am."

"Oh boy, you did it now, Whitey." Argo gulped, and now a few of the girls were giving him death glares, with Kirito shifting his seat away from White

"Huh?" White now realized how tense the room got, turning his head to look at everyone

"Tell us something..." Sinon replied, her face still neutral, but the fire was burning

"..." Almost all of them were giving White a dirty look, and he didn't know how to reply, about the only one not phased was Strea, who was like White, utterly confused by the level of salt in the room

"Hmm, seems the salt-count is rising in this maelstrom before me." White muttered, and Umbra just raised his hands in defeat

"You're on your own now, boss."

"This person you met after most of us spent all day worrying about you..." Liz dared

"Philia...a girl, right?" Sinon answered correctly, and finally White caught on

**=Pause=**

"Oh boy, the downside about not being as dense as my bud Kirito, I happen to know about their infatuation with him, despite the fact he's already with someone and they have a kid, but hey, how the hell am I suppose to know what goes on in a girl's head." White shrugged, pulling up pictures of the girls, including Philia

"On one end, I have one who's distant, and tried to kill me." He then switched from Philia to Sinon. "One that is about the only level-headed on about this situation." Last he brought up one of Liz, Silica, Leafa, and Strea. "And these four I haven't completely figured out. Strea, not even close, hehehe. Help me."

**=Resume=**

"I mean, did you all forget the part of her trying to kill me, or is that not important?" White tried to clarify, but Leafa pointed to him

"Called it~!" Leafa complained

"About the crazy chick with a knife, oooooor?" White tried to change the subject

"Not only has he been wandering around, but he's been flirting with girls." Sinon nodded in clear understanding of a whole 'nother conversation, so much so, that Umbra fell off his chair in a fit of laughter, clutching his sides, and trying to reach for Argo to lift him up

"O-oh G-G-Gods...no! He's about...just...NO! Hahahaha! The Boss is many t-things, 'Flirting' is not even remotely clo-o-ose..." Umbra cried under his helmet, trying to calm himself with deep breaths, which resulted in short fits of giggles. "Hehehehe...AHH it's too funny!"

"Hmm, let's see, Sinon, how would you describe it?" Liz asked the stoic girl, then she cleared her throat

"'I will help you', sound about right?" Sinon echoed what White would have said, and he merely deadpanned

"That's...actually quite accurate, say for my voice, try more...oh wait, you're not optimistic, my bad." White snuck in a jab, grinning as Sinon's eyebrows flattened against her head. Then White waved. "Besides the point. One, it wasn't remotely close to that. Two, Philia didn't leave with."

"What?" Kirito asked, with the girl's finally pushing the salt aside

"She can't leave?" Silica repeated, with White looking a little disheartened at that, his smile a small frown

"I don't know, when she finally decided to talk to me after fighting Rattlebones, she said she was forcibly teleported there too, but she hadn't left the whole time, even when we managed to link a teleport gate to the network again, she stayed behind, if she is stuck there...well..." White paused, thinking for a moment, then his smile came back. "I want to help her. I don't care what you thought happened in the Hollow Area, but I said I'd come back, and I will."

"Kind-hearted till you die, Boss." Umbra clapped, pointing a thumb to his chest. "You need me, just call."

"Well we have you, the Black Swordsman, and Umbra, no matter what happens, so let's explore every inch of the Hollow Area." Liz finally smiled with a new-found determination

"Of course I'll help too," Argo replied, resting her arms on her knee. "Might not know a thing 'bout this place, but you bring me any info, I'll where I can go from there."

"For now, though, you should rest, given how you basically fought a Floor Boss." Agil interjected, stopping White in his tracks. "Trust me, kid, it won't kill you to wait a little longer."

"Aye...that's fair." White sighed. "Ok then, tomorrow I'll head back to see what I can find out."

* * *

[The Next Day...]

"Argoooo~!" White called out towards the plaza, the teleport gate flashing every couple of minutes due to the rate people vanished and appeared from Floor 76 and 77, and any that traveled up from the other floors. Downside was, now that the Cardinal System glitched back a month ago, anyone who travels up this far can't go back down, everyone was stuck on high-level floors, and have left behind whatever they didn't have on their avatar

"Oi, Whitey, over here!" Argo waved him over from just down a small set of steps in front of the teleport gate. White quickly jogged up to greet her, but his reaction came slow, upon seeing her new attire

Argo now sported hazel boots with black fabric raising from her feet, then curving around to the sides of her legs and up to her swamp-green shorts with lime-green sides, a brown belt with pouches along the waist. Her stomach was exposed, but the same green fabric covered everything from her chest up to her neck, with a black and white jacket under her usual, dark-brown cloak. She also wore her trademark, fingerless gloves.

"I'm liking the upgrades, what brought this on?" White gave her a quick once-over, before focusing back on the info-broker, who had her troll-face on

"Oh? Like what ya see? Should have seen Umbra, I don't I've seen him act so..." Argo paused, and White raised his brow

"Disorientated?"

"That's it. But yeah, since we're stuck up here, might as well look the part, plus if I'm going with you at any point to this Hollow Area, have to make sure my equipment is up to scratch." Argo explained, patting her newly acquired claws. "So, whatcha need?"

"Tell me...is there a way to remove an Orange Cursor?" Suddenly, White's tone became softer, but stern, his usual smile was there, but his eyes were dead serious, and Argo was too. The once light-hearted atmosphere around them became colder, flatter by the setting of their next conversation

"What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Argo questioned, but White shook his head

"Philia. When we met her cursor was Orange, but I never decided to ask her why given how shaken she looked after running into me." White explained but saw the look of confliction in Argo's expression. "I don't think Philia would intentionally harm someone, if she did, I wouldn't be here, I am powerful, but no one can ignore a surprise paralysis with their back turned."

For a moment, Argo merely breathed through her nose, then, she gave a small smirk.

"Ever heard of a 'Karma Quest'?" White shook his head. "It's as it sounds, you complete this quest for an NPC, and your cursor is reverted back, easy, except theirs one catch."

"They aren't common quests, are they?" White had guessed right

"And we have no idea if they exist in this Hollow Area, so best not to get her hopes up until you can be sure quests can be found there, events too." Argo warned White, and he merely bowed his head

**=Pause=**

"Where would I be without Argo as my friend?" White spoke to the frozen world. "She's been my friend since the start of this game, met her back on another VRMMO before Sword Art, and she's the one who introduced me to Kirito once the Death Game began."

A picture of a man, surrounded by guys with swords, while White and Kirito stood speechless at the cocky looks on Argo and Asuna's faces. "From stopping a thief back on Floor 2." Then the next panel showed White and Argo face-to-face with a molten knight on a volcano, a symbol stretching across White's arm like a virus. "To preventing hundreds of player from dying, can't say I'd be here without her help."

**=Resume=**

"Thank you, Argo." White gratefully thanked her for the info, to which she waved him off

"Eh, just be sure to keep your wits about you, Whitey, but in return, get me whatever info you find to your friendly, neighborhood info-broker." Argo winked, giving him a peace sign upon stepping onto the teleport gate

"Teleport, Hollow Area." In a flash of light, he vanished from Floor 76, but White then winked

"To Be Continued."

* * *

You know how fun it is to try and organize the Hollow Arc around events and certain story segments? Not fun at all, but I do enjoy it when I have it sorted. Hope you enjoyed this more Slice of Life heavy segment and seeya in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: [Reforge]

Upon arriving back in the Hollow Area, Philia and White discuss more of the mysteries around the locked off area of Aincrad, but it brings up a good point. Philia's damaged equipment.


	4. Chapter 4: Reforge

**Arc I - Unlikely Pact**

**Chapter 4 - Reforge**

**Hollow Area, Administration Area**

"Oh, God, two years and I'm still not used to that flash, ahh..." White hissed, taking off his glasses to rub his eyes, helping them readjust to the light of the Administration Area, and before him stood his expert. "Ah, just the Treasure Hunter I was looking for."

"...We meet again." Philia greeted with a small smile, but White then looked at her directly, blinking a few times to adjust his sight under his glasses

"Philia, have you been here since yesterday waiting?" White felt like crap after that thought, and once more, her frown return per-usual

"Not really, I spent most of my time investigating the Control Area, after that, I was finally able to rest easy without the fear of monsters running around," Philia explained, motioning for White to follow her to the console. Yet, out the corner of White's eye, he saw a more...sentimental look on her face. "...You really came back."

"Little fact about me Philia, I, for all that I am, cannot lie to save my life. So instead of looking like an idiot, I just tell the truth or stay silent. So believe me, I wasn't going to just leave you here." That comment did make the spring in her step move a little more

"Thank you." While he couldn't see her face, she did smile for a second. Now at the console, she quickly brought up the Hollow Element Implementation tab. "I found that this here contains a list of set goals and trails through-out the Hollow Area, completing these is like Quests, they give rewards, skills, items, you name it."

"So its an NPC, except 'NOT' an NPC...that's weird." White tilted his head, then a map of the area they mapped out already appeared. "Wait, this is...more filled in than last time?"

"Since I've been stuck to a single section of the map, I've explored almost all spots in this area, say for any hidden passages, which this map shows to be several." Philia pointed to dead-ends that wouldn't be accessible without certain measures

"Leading back to before this. You said you slept here, and was the first proper sleep you've had, right?" Philia nodded, resting on the side of the console

"I had to spend most times resting in safe spots in dungeons, mostly away from any monster spawns, it made sleep patterns...harder." Philia stared down at her feet, before raising her head again, seeing the curious look on White's face. "What?"

"Your equipment must be torn to pieces by now, or atleast close to?" White summarized to her

**=Pause=**

"Now this was bad if she didn't know of any towns in the Hollow Area, that might be because these sections of Aincrad weren't meant to be Floor pieces like Yui said..." That's when a lightbulb appeared above White's head

"Wait, does that make this place a testing ground? The announcements before and these Element tasks were they in certification for someone to test were safe and balanced for Aincrad?" White crossed his arms, then clicked his fingers. "Well, what better way to investigate than to do some spelunking?"

**=Resume=**

"I'm always avoiding unnecessary fights, and using stealth, so my durability hasn't gone down as much," Philia replied. "But," Now she held out her Sword Breaker. "Since better loot his contained behind powerful monsters, I would like to upgrade with 'Chiming Ore', downside, its dropped by monsters in a placed called the 'Abandoned Weapon Test Site'."

"Oh, that shouldn't be too difficult, we get in, slay everything, get out, easy." White blew off like a passing breeze, and Philia stood silently for a moment, watching as White brought up the Hollow Map sector for Selvendys Forest. "Sure, cannon-fodder will get in the way, but using AOE attacks against them should be much faster and - Philia? You there buddy?"

"H-huh, what? Sorry, just...you are...strangely optimistic for this?" Philia's question had only made him hum to himself, locking the teleport command on the nearest Obelisk, that being the Front Square of the shrine

"Why wouldn't I be? New loot is out there, and ain't no-one else getting it without me piggy-backing them, and besides, if we gain more than we need to upgrade your Sword Breaker, I can see if I can't boost my stats a little too, it's a win-win. Well, so long as I enhance your weapon first, given how you're guiding me to this place." White informed her. "To me, I play games to push myself beyond that of what humans can do, in here...I'm who I am, despite the Death Game added onto the end of that."

"Well, I guess when you put it like that it's sort of why I treasure hunt; I want to gather and collect relics and items that no-one else has heard about, Info-brokers, quest-lines, anything to take me to that rare reward at the end of the road," Philia added with a hand to her chest. "It's why this place has atleast a grain of gold, even after a whole month here."

"Alrighty then, lets get us some loot!"

"Okay."

* * *

[Sometime Later...]

"Ok, why does it even have two levers?" White coughed, kicking the large salamander off his coat, watching it burst into shards of glass, parts of his equipment stained black from the fire pit he fell into

"Here." Philia handed him a health potion, and he happily drank the contents, watching his bar go from yellow to green again. "Well, we're here."

Philia had led them both into a mossy fortress, half-buried in the ground, so vines snaked down the walls, with trees growing in parts of the floor and walls, their roots breaking apart the ground after centuries of silence. Green fires lit the hall in a magical atmosphere as the two walked deeper into the fortress, their weapons at the ready.

"So, the ore drops from the enemies around here then?" White relayed what he remembered, Philia confirming his knowledge. "How many pieces do you need for Sword Breaker?"

"About six, but as you said, the more we get, better chances of making our gear stronger." She replied calmly, both turning down a hall to be greeted by a greenish-black slime, a small, grey golem, and a silver knight with a sword and shield

Valley Slime - lvl 92

Valley Golem - lvl 98

Valley Knight - lvl 95

"Is it just me, or are those names really derivative?" White commented, yet when they entered the small, cubic room, they simply walked past the two of them, so Philia and White shrugged, as White looked to his left coyly

**=Pause=**

"What? They wouldn't even add up to any amount of XP, I ain't got time for that."

**=Resume=**

Finally turning the first corner to their right, they reached their targets, a room of slimes, what would have been an easy objective wasn't exactly how both of them thought of the discovery.

"Ok, killing all the mobs in this room should drop enough ore." Philia informed the now grinning White, who was lit up in flames. Noticing this, Philia raised a brow at his cocky expression

"The map shows three exact rooms, each probably filled with weak mobs we can one-shot. So tell me, Philia, think you can kill more than me?" White dared her, and for once, Philia felt a rush of excitement race to her, a challenging smile crossing her face, eyes heated up with determination

"You're on." Philia replied, only to see White run into the room, drawing aggro onto himself to the fifteen or so slimes, all blobbing towards him like jelly

"Horizontal!" White's Parting Glass glowed once more, and with a single push of his left foot, his body propelled forwards, his right leg spinning his body around to create a massive ring of blue light, slicing through the slimes like a buzz-saw in seconds

*Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter*

Swinging his sword down to his side, White turned to look over his shoulder, he instantly lost his smug expression, seeing that Philia was nowhere in sight. Yet to his left was a hallway leading to the next two rooms, so he quickened his pace into the middle room, finding three Valley Golems sauntering past him.

Yet, before he could properly rush into the fray, the Golems lumbered the other way, where the first was struck across the side of the ruby head by a crimson foot, followed by a twirl of blue and red, the second leg crashing down atop the second on in an ax-kick. The last before White was then sliced by a brilliant stream of red light, a red mark stretching across its chest diagonally, the body sliding off one-another, falling into a splash of glass. Before White, stood a triumphant Treasure Hunter.

"Yeet!" White suddenly threw himself down the final hallway, with Philia tripping him up once he shot around the corner, the only indication being her laughing, so White quickly grabbed the blue fabric that was strapped to the side of her waist, pulling her backward, allowing him to scamper to his feet and run into the room with her

"Fifteen more!" Both yelled, splitting off to the left and right with their heart crashing against their chests

White leapt towards a group of Valley Knights, swinging his blade horizontally, interrupting their sword skills, followed by a downward thrust through the abdomen of one. Clasping Parting Glass, White twisted and swung with a powerful kick of wind, tearing the blade through the knight and serving the waist of another. Ducking under the third's blade, White spun on his knees to slice the knee-caps of the knight, standing up and sinking Parting Glass through its lower jaw and out the top of its helmet, watching the knight burst into glass, followed by a knight swinging in from behind said knight. Its attack struck White, but it did little to sting his HP, so he grabbed the knight's shoulder, before pulling its chest into his blade, then throwing its limp body to the sidelines.

Seeing two attacking from both the front and back, White ran for the one in front, the Valley knight blocking with its silver shield, so White channeled purple light into his sword, feeling the warmth whip at his face. Leaping onto the shield, White backflipped in time to see the knight from behind him stop before the first, at that moment, he dropped Parting Glass between his feet.

[Sword Skill - Royal Crescendo]

The momentum snapped White around like a ball, the purple blade slicing the two knight completely in two with a crisp cut of metal, landing with his sword back in his right hand, the two knights raining down in a shower of glass.

When White turned to see Philia, he noted that she had slaughtered all but one remaining knight. When their eyes met, both panting with exhausted smiles on their faces, the two glanced to the knight, then to each of with grins to match. Philia's dagger began to snap with orange energy, a contrast to White slimmed, light-blue long sword.

[Sword Skill - Sonic Leap]

[Sword Skill - Rapid Bite]

The knight was completely overwhelmed by the sudden strikes of the two players. White swung Parting Glass with both hands, a horizon of blue blinding the knight, before Philia leapt over his crouched body to break its armor with two quick diagonal slices from top to bottom, the two creating a literal table of lines across its body before it too shattered like the rest.

[White Hat: Level Up 112 - 113]

[Philia: Level Up 109 - 110]

"Oh, would you look at that, they did have another use." White chuckled, with Philia joining soon after. "I think we went overboard."

"This coming from the guy who challenged me first." Philia reminded with a small smile

"But you accepted." He raised his hands defensively, before lowering them. "That's probably enough ore to reforge all our equipment. What now?"

"Well, hopefully, we can find a skilled blacksmith..." Philia's face dropped, her hand on her chin

"You...only realized this now, didn't you?" She didn't respond, only scratching her cheek, clapping, White startled her. "Well, you're in luck! I know a great blacksmith. I can her to reforge your Sword Breaker if you want?"

"O-Ok, thanks..." Was her small reply

"Not. A. Problem."

* * *

[One Teleport Later...]

"I'm counting on you." Philia expressed her concerns, feeling quite naked without her dagger by her side, but any player would

Now standing upon the teleport gate, White waved to Philia, who stood with her arms crossed, a stoic expression on her face.

"One enhanced breaker of swords coming right up!" White saluted. "Teleport, Arc Sophia!"

* * *

**Arc Sophia, Floor 76, Market**

"Hey, Liz, you in!?" White called once outside her stall, tapping his hand against the stand where he viewed the newly made weaponry and armor. After a small pause, the door to the right opened, revealing the infamous blacksmith. "Ahh, just the girl I was looking for? I have a proposition for you, Mi Lady."

"R-right, what can I help you with, White?" Liz eventually replied, and after a few scrolls through his Items, he made a sack filled with Chiming Ore, the loud 'thump' making her jump. "Woah, what's all this for?"

"This stuff here is exclusive ore from the Hollow Area, you can have it all, in exchange." White then scrolled through his weapons, pushing the tabs aside for a moment. In his hands, he carefully sat Sword Breaker down on the stand. "I need this dagger enhanced, use all the ore, I just want it to be as powerful as it can be."

"Hehehe, thank you, thank you, White!" Liz was all giddy now but quickly cleared her throat. "Are you sure you want me to use all this ore at once? And besides, my smithing skill is...par at best now."

"I have complete faith in your abilities, and I ain't gonna start doubting yet." White refused to believe such, that did make Liz's face brighten up, her arms grabbing the bag and sword

"Ok, I'll do my best!"

*Thunk-Thunk-Ting-Clank*

* * *

**Hollow Area, Administration Area**

"Special delivery~!" The sudden arrival made Philia turn her body quickly, seeing that to her amazement, Sword Breaker rested in White's hands, yet the guard was now made of gold it seemed, no longer a silvery-grey. "One Sword Breaker +5!"

"Plus Five!?" Philia blurted out suddenly, blinking at the sight of the dagger that was sent over to her in a trade menu, which she quickly accepted, seeing the enhanced blade back in her fingers. "You...you really did that for me?"

Confused by this, White merely shrugged, crossing his arms behind his head. "'Course I did. You didn't think I would?"

"I guess I find it hard to believe that anyone'd be kind enough to enhance the weapon of someone they just met." Philia's logic was sound, imparting a cold truth onto White which he knew all too well. "I mean, most people would take your weapon and run. I did wonder if I'd see you again."

"Well, you're not wrong, but as I said, sometimes, you got to take a chance." That same phrase again, Philia remembered him vaguely saying that the last time. "But...if that was how you thought before, why'd you trust me?"

"I guess...I guess because you're a kind person." Philia professed how she felt about it, holding the blade close to her chest again. "Thank you, White, I'll treasure this."

* * *

"Say, Philia...know anything else about this lovely death trap we call the Hollow Area?" White mused while Philia re-equipped her Sword Breaker

"You know, it's not like I know all that much about it myself..." Philia spoke with her head behind her hidden tabs, though her eyes did glance up for a second to look

"Well, I figured since you've been here longer, you might have some tricks or tips you can give me since I'd rather be prepared for anything else that's abnormal for SAO?" White requested, slash, begged her, but the face she gave when closing her tabs, it looked...sorrowful and regretful

"Well...stuff has happened...sure." White then brought out his signature notebook, flicking to a page reserved for the Hollow Area, but Philia didn't notice

"Anything at all, as much as you can recall, given my nature to have danger slap be across the face and throw me off a cliff, this is bound to-"

"The people in here...they...well, most would suddenly attack you from nowhere." That made White stop writing for a moment, seeing the disgust written across Philia's face. "One time I was taking a rest in the best spot I could find to be safe, then I heard voices nearby...I moved closer to see what was going on, and I saw it...a player surrounded by others...they killed him." That hatred turned to sorrow

"A PK." White grimaced. _"I knew she wouldn't kill, what person would be this hurt over the death of another player and still be able to kill without remorse? Sometimes I surprise myself with my stupidity."_

"Yet, they all looked like they've done it before." Philia then looked to White's eyes clearly. "So in the end, my 'safe places' might work to protect me from monsters, but players...well, sleep hasn't been an option for me in a while."

"Good thing we have this place then? All the rest you can desire." White reassured her, then Philia placed a hand on the back of her neck

"That's the situation I was in when I met you."

"Aye, now the whole 'Crazy chick with a knife' scene has a picture to it." White chuckled, yet Philia looked ashamed about it, knowing she nearly tried to kill someone who was so kind to her moments after

"I feel bad about it...I mean, you've been so good to me. Its thanks to you that I could finally take a here in the Administration Area." Philia confessed, her hand grazing against her Sword Breaker. "And now you've gone and enhanced my weapon...it's...I..."

"Just be honest." Was all White said

"I-I just really want to say thank you, that's all! There! That's the rest of my story." Philia pushed out her throat, yet White merely slapped the book in his hand shut, placing it back into a small pouch, giving Philia a comforting smile, patting her on the shoulder

"A good story at that, this info's gonna be useful, and...thanks, for sharing." White's compliment made a new question reach Philia's mind, her hands fumbling with her gloves

"W-White?"

"Hmm? Is there something else you want to say?" Raising a brow, White listened to what she had to say

"No, not really...Actually, I wanted to ask you something..." It finally dawned on White, and he laughed

"Oh right, I've been interrogating you, 'bout time the tables turn, shoot." White ushered for her to speak

"Ok, here goes...why do you care so much about an Orange Player like me?" Of all questions, this one made White twitch slightly, not of anger, but...something in him clicked

_"It's why I care about everyone we meet, no matter their past!" _

White didn't respond immediately, that image in his stirring him slightly for a moment, then, in a low voice, he answered Philia.

"It's just natural to care about those who wander dangerous places alone, especially friends." White answered the best he could, and that made Philia stare, befuddled by his answer

"That's your reason? Just like that...?" White thought he said it wrong, hitting the side of his head

"I was never good at explaining my morals, sorry if that didn't sound right." White apologized, yet, her smile came back, her eyes soft and warm

"No, no...there's nothing wrong with it. In fact, I understand, and I'm actually relieved that I finally met someone, after nothing but murders and weirdos, generally cares about people, despite...what makes them different." Her answer resounded with them both, in the short space of time, they both had a new understanding of one another

"Hehehe, glad to know I am good company, eh? Before I wrap this up for the day, anything else on your mind?" White mused, awaiting her answer, yet she shook her head, still happy for what he said to her

"Umm...not that I can think of, so thank you, White." With that said, White bowed, making her snort humorously, with the two walking back to the teleport gate

"Well you know where I am, ever need anyone to talk to I'll be here, but for today, this is goodbye." White waved, and Philia did the same

"Okay, see you soon." Softly spoken

"Teleport, Arc Sophia." White called out to the gate

*FWOOSH*

Like that, he was gone in a flash. And that smile never left Philia's face.

To Be Continued...

* * *

Seems there's more to White Hat than sunshine and rainbows. Now, onwards with the story! Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: Quest - [Symbol of Luck and Speed]

Another day in the Hollow Area, Philia requests White's aid in getting past a tougher-than-normal enemy to gain access to a secret room, the strange thing is, she's acting weird about it.


	5. Chapter 5: Symbol of Luck and Speed

**Arc I - Unlikely Pact**

**Chapter 5 - Symbol of Luck and Speed**

[A Few Days Later...]

Boss Room, Floor 77

**-Ogrest, The Screaming Death - lvl 120-**

"Switch!" White called to Umbra, rolling onto his back, turning his feet towards the ceiling of the cave-like chamber, from behind White, the Warframe leapt onto his feet, and with a mighty heave, Umbra was propelled into the air, where his Skiajati brimmed with light within its sheath

[Sword Skill - Slash Dash]

With the force of a jet-fighter, Umbra's sword converted into a blade of blue, void energy, the two beings ripping through the head of the massive, sonic bat like a laser, leaving only a curved arc of void light to erupt from the wound created through the neck of the Boss, the last of its health dropping into the abyss. Its body quickly crystallized, and as Umbra landed, he slowly skated his katana back into its scabbard, the rain of blue shards casting down on the raid team.

**[CONGRATULATIONS!] **

The whole arena erupted into celebration, the second of twenty-five bosses were down, and not a single life was lost against the bat's sonic screams or air blades. White merely held a thumbs up to Umbra, who returned it in kind, patting his Skaijati softly.

* * *

**Hollow Area, Administration Area**

"O-oh, Whi-te..." Now back in the Hollow Area, White looked to see Philia once again waiting for him, but she was fidgeting slightly, and her cheeks were a little rosier than before. "Listen, I found a place that looked like it might be full of treasure...The problem is, there's an abnormally difficult monster in my way, even when I tried to sneak past it, it instantly became agro."

"So long as it ain't got more than seven legs, I'll do what I can," White assured her. "Sure, I'm in."

"Really!? Oh, that's such a relief..." Philia relaxed a little

"Where to then?" White inquired, both now walking up to the large monitor with the map, after a few button presses, the map zoomed in on the forest area

"It's in a chapel...south-west of our nearest obelisk..." Philia explained, seeing that they had yet to activate the obelisk beside the dungeon. "I managed to uncover a hidden door, then the monster appeared."

Suddenly, Philia became ridged again, while White didn't visibly show it, he was finding it weird as to why she kept getting flustered, seeing her cheeks turn red again, her eyes avoiding his own.

"So I thought...I-If you with me, White, maybe...we could defeat it th-then..." Philia was currently having a mental breakdown. _"Why am I being so...awkward? White helped me before so why..."_

"Uhh, sure...I relaxing treasure hunt after a boss sounds fun, I mean, this is still more up Umbra's street, but I can just rub it in his face later." White shrugged

**=Pause=**

"Philia's acting strange...this is coming from me, White the strangest, strangest of all strange." White paused. "I swear that makes sense."

**=Resume=**

* * *

The Tomb Before Darkness

"Let me in, Let me in, Let me in, Let. Me. In!" White kept pushing against the broken, stone doors of the abandoned chapel for dear life, his eyes frantically darting behind him to see Philia trying to stop herself from laughing, as a burst of blue light flashed in the mist behind her. "Are they dead!?"

"Y-yes. I never pictured you to have a fear of spiders? Especially digital ones." Philia stifled her laugh, seeing the beet red state of White's face

"They are demons from the pits of hell, as soon as you lose sight of them, its only a matter of time until they strike you in your sleep! I'd rather fight anything that has less than seven legs." White barked, pushing the door open, the two walking into the surprisingly white building, then White snapped his finger towards her. "Tearing a leg off one of them doesn't count."

"I didn't say anything." Philia defended, the two now walking into an army of skeletal knights and Templars, all skulking around the massive hall without a care. "Ok, the hidden door is across to our right."

White quickly went to draw his sword, yet Philia placed her hand across his chest.

"Wait, we can easily sneak by them, just follow me." Not saying a word, White released Parting Glass and motioned for Philia to lead the way

The two waited for a moment for two Templars to pass by, their slow, rattling movements echoed down the halls, but it masked the sound of their footsteps passing by, as the two quickly jogged past them, moving to their left to avoid another, then Philia pushed her hand to White's stomach, making him grunt, but he didn't complain, since three in a group stood motionless two feet in front of them, their heads turning to look at the world around them. Yet their hearts sank at the sight of one Templar now staring back at them with glowing, white eyes.

White quickly focused, seeing below his SP bar was the 'Hate' meter, the higher it was, the more likely you were to be targeted, if it entered 'Two', agro would occur, but the small, yellow bar steadily rose, his eyes glancing between the 'One', and the Templar.

"If we moved now, it might agro, and that includes the other, twenty or so monsters around us, not good." White muttered into Philia's ear, her head slowly nodding, but she titled back

"Just wait, trust me." Not once has she ever asked White to have faith in her, so the feeling was new coming from her, but White didn't protest, she only felt him move to stand closer to her, seeing his head peeking from over her right shoulder

Slowly, the Templar began to shamble their way, causing their heart-rates to rise, and both of them held their breaths back, fearing they might alert the skeleton. It was slowly stepping their way, one single step more, and they'd be in for a fight that they weren't prepared for. Philia only prayed that luck would give them this chance, and White merely thought fighting spiders didn't seem so bad after all.

The Templar turned, and slowly walked away, the other two splitting off as well, leaving the smooth, stone wall wide open for them to dash to, and they did without any hesitation, their legs pushing their shaking bodies into the cold surface, both releasing the breaths they held.

"That was..." Philia began

"Fun." White chuckled dryly, seeing Philia's own smirk of mirth. After a small moment to catch their hearts from their stomachs, the two turned to face the blank wall. "So, do I push a brick oooooor?"

Philia merely waved her hand across the wall, and slowly, the illusion wavered and dissolved, revealing a black iron door before them, White making an 'Ooooh' in awe. Slowly, Philia placed her hand to the door, hearing the loud groan and snap of the rusted bolts moving, and only a medium-sized square was before them, housing a massive, stone brick golem, a blue core for an eye and stomach, the dark-blue flames licking its stone body like wood. Even its arms were merely pillars of rock for clubs.

"So...that's the big guy?" White stated the obvious, tilting his body to peer over his glasses, seeing the hallway behind it. "And there's the loot hall."

"Yeah, let's stay focused." Philia commanded, raising her Sword Breaker to her side, with White swinging out Parting Glass, the silver edge shining in the light of the massive, stain-blue windows, piercing blue light into the room

**NM Sanctuary - lvl 130**

Sprinting into the room, the glass windows quickly shimmered, as three scythe-wielding specters joined the vanguard, triangulating themselves around Sanctuary. From the distance made, White saw their levels were far lower, channeling the signature light-blue tone into his blade, White stopped before the massive golem.

[Sword Skill - Horizontal]

In a single, clean swish of his blade, the three specters were defeated, whilst immobilizing Sanctuary in-place. With its feet locked by the debuff, Sanctuary raised its left arm, striking down quick and hard, knocking White back slightly by the sudden speed and power behind it, a red net crossing his face and left arm.

"Slan-" White raised his voice, yet the golem's left arm began to channel a golden light through its joints, and White felt his vision slip slightly under his glasses

[Earthshock]

White's sword skill was canceled, stunning him for a moment, as his body flew backward onto the marble floor, shaking the ground with an erupting burst of light. Philia saw this, but remained on target, seeing White's health drop again, so, harnessing her newest skill, her dagger resonated with the same yellow hue.

[Sword Skill - Infinity]

Sliding around to stand behind Sanctuary, Philia struck diagonally to the left and right in a hasty 'X', followed by a powerful uppercut to the right, inverting her grip to strike vertically on the left, branding the golem with a powerful blast, 'Attack Down' now in effect.

"Are you ok!?" Philia called out

"Rage Spike!...Aye." White called back after his skill use

Suddenly, Sanctuary felt something pierce the blue joint on its stomach, seeing the crimson blade sunk clean through the orb, turning slightly to its left, it saw Philia beginning to channel a sword skill again. So it too channeled cyan energy through his whole body, absorbing some of the flames that coated its form.

[Cyclone Cannon]

It twisted its body around slowly, and by some unexpected reason, the entire torso of Sanctuary spun around like a whirlwind of stone, striking both Philia and White, with it stopping to strike Philia hard, throwing her across the grand hall, with White watching his health dip into the yellow, with Philia following suit.

"Hehehehe, now this..." White pushed himself to his feet, a mad grin spreading across his face. "Is a real fight!"

Sanctuary slowly stomped his way towards Philia, who now had her back to the wall, the shadow of the massive golem overshadowing her options of escape.

"Oi, Easter Island called, they want their stone back!" White quipped, and to Philia's shock, the golem turned to face him, and she could see it, his tabs were open, as he pressed down on several hidden keys, which released a burst of red, blue, and yellow, stars flying around him like fireflies. "Come get me, skag-lick."

Responding, Sanctuary charged towards White, shaking the ground they stood on, but for the moment Philia looked to White, she saw his index and middle fingers pointing upwards, then they bent straight down, and suddenly, Philia ran after the Golem, spinning Sword Breaker back up again.

White had never attempted this in a while, but if it worked, the strength, agility, and defense buffs should turn the course of this fight. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Philia activate 'Darkwind', increasing her evasion, and so, with the remaining 200 SP White had, he closed his tabs, pressing one last buff.

Sanctuary stopped before White, its arms rising above its rectangular head, then in a massive swing, it brought its arms down with an eruption of fire.

[Fissure]

"You know something, Philia, I can't tell which is worse. The annoying attacks this thing uses." Sanctuary saw the red blade blocking its arms without so much as a strain against its mass, the glowing, silver eyes of White staring right back. "Or the bland attack names, so allow me to give a real one."

[Sword Skill Connect - Horizon's Wrath]

Pushing back on the golem, White's body refracted light, hexagons of pink covering his body like a turtle shell, the skill cost alot of SP, so dodging was useless, so he used his trump card, 'Hyper Armour', nothing can break through it, and all attacks can easily phase right through the player's body.

With himself on an immortal clock, White sliced upwards, diagonally left and right, quickly followed by two diagonal slashes downwards, burning the crimson 'W' into Sanctuary, yet White followed with a quick uppercut, followed by vertical slice down, then, twisting his wrist, he sunk a horizontal line across its waist, then another through its blocky head. Each strike stunning the golem more and more.

[Sword Skill - Armour Pierce]

Sanctuary spun quickly, it's right arm phasing right through White, as it used the momentum to throw it's left arm across Philia's face, but if it had a face, only fear would be painted across it, seeing the shadowy form of Philia pass right through the solid mass of stone, her emerald blade pulling her through its chest, her body spinning around to stand beside White.

With the gust of wind catching up to her, Philia pushed up with her left hand and toes, pushing herself towards the back of Sanctuary, seeing its health drop into the red, the 'Bleed' from White's skill sucking the last of its health dry. White joined her, and the two spun in synergy, passing by one-another, and carving a permanent 'X' through the stone.

Sanctuary fell to his knees, the health bar vanishing, as the stone holding it together fell apart, shattering into shards of blue glass before its slayers, who both smiled with bliss.

"Nailed it." They said in unison, bumping fists and blades

[White Hat: Level Up 115 - 116]

[Philia: Level Up 112 - 113]

* * *

"Now that was a fight, aww, so pumped up!" White cheered, swinging Parting Glass around happily, Philia close to his right as the two searched the empty halls ahead

"You were amazing, White, I didn't think you could use sword skills in unison like that, apart from syncing with a partner." Philia complimented, yet White merely tapped his nose with the blade

"You're telling me, we both were. Having you on the Assault Team would be the greatest news to about everyone, you may be a treasure hunter, but that doesn't mean you're weak." White returned in-kind, yet Philia's face flushed red again

"S-Stop flattering me...It won't get you anywhere, you know..." White paused at that

"Wait...is that what flirting is...? Umm...I...w-well, you know I can only tell the truth." White defended, and Philia smiled at his stumbling nature

"Hehehe...well, if you insist. It's just been a while since someone's complimented me on anything, that's all." Philia elaborated, that was, until her eyes caught sight of a golden chest, with a red casing. Without much warning, she ran off down the end of the hallway, with White walking slowly behind her. "Hurry your butt over here, White, will you?"

_"I didn't really think about it before, but there's something kind of cute about Philia..."_ White froze behind her. _"Wait...ok, brain, listen to me buddy, let's just pull the reins back a bit, eh, calm your self before you wreck yourself."_

White then sat down, cross-legged beside the chest, seeing Philia inspect it carefully. "It looks like the chest's lid is trapped..." At that moment, White shuffled away to sit beside Philia

"For the love of God, tell me it's not a Mimic?" White shuddered

"No, it's just got a basic trap rigged to it, so it shouldn't be a big deal." Philia was in full concentration mode, given how stoic her expression was, but a pat on the shoulder made her jump

"Well then, I'll leave this to the Treasure Hunter." White assured her, and quickly her focus returned, her lockpick twisting within the confines of the mechanism

"I can work out trap levels and types at a glance, my skills are nearly maxed out completely because of this," Philia explained, carefully pressing her ear to the lock for a second. "...ah!" With a satisfying click, the lock came off. "Done!"

"As Umbra says, nothing's more satisfying than not blowing yourself up." White mused, yet Philia was in a whole 'nother world to his, a smile across her face like a child

"Heeheehee...okay, little treasure, come on out..." Philia happily spoke to the chest, and White did his best to keep a straight face

"'Little Treasure'?" He muttered under his breath, slapping his chest to keep his bottled laughter down

"What kind of treasure are you? A weapon or accessory, maybe..." Philia brought out her hand, pulling out a small near-perfect, silver ring with an amethyst infused into the metal, and the surface seemed to move like water

"Woah...that looks extremely rare..." White awed, yet Philia turned on her knees to hold the ring out on her palm for them to see

"Finding treasure like this is what I love about adventuring." Philia's explanation was certainly true, battling a boss to gain a rare item certainly held its fair share of glee

"Heh...you're so cute..." White's reason has just slammed the breaks on. _"Braaaaaaaaain!"_

"Huh?" What did you say?" Philia asked, only catching a piece of his sentence, yet White knew he couldn't lie, so did she

"I...erm, I just said you were cute..." White felt his mind begin to race with any logical reason, yet none came

"I...I'm cute...?" Philia was now blushing, and White felt himself begin to freak out at himself

"I do I say the things I do, why me, why now!?" White had lost it, and Philia merely stayed silent. "Please say something? I didn't mean it like that..."

"It isn't? So I'm not cute!?" Philia was now beginning to mess with White, seeing his own face burn with shame, as he waved his hands rapidly

"No, no! You are! But, I didn't, I...erm..." White only watched as Philia began to laugh, covering her mouth with a hand

"Hehe...you know what, White? You're pretty cute yourself when you get all flustered like that." At that moment, Philia closed her eyes to laugh a little more, but upon opening them, she saw him with his arms crossed, pouting

"I am not cute." White grumbled, yet he saw Philia holding the ring out again

"Come, I'm just kidding! Here, you can have this as I sign of my thanks and apology." Philia winked, placing the ring in his palm

"I mean, you are the one who both found and collected this, you should keep it." White tried to offer it back, but Philia shook her head, pushing his fingers closed to hold it tightly

"Yeah, but I don't really need it. You take it, seriously." Philia insisted, so he sighed, opening his hand to hold the ring out

"Well, okay...thanks, Philia." With that, he slid the ring onto his finger, and the stats quickly came up

[Light Ring]

+15% to Agility

+5% to defense

"Now make sure you take good care of it. I don't usually give people presents..." Philia rubbed the side of her hair, brushing a lock from her eyes

"Aye, this ain't going nowhere."

* * *

[Later that day...]

The two were nearing the exit to 'The Tomb Before Darkness'. Their loot in toe, yet something in the clearing ahead put White on high alert, it wasn't a monster, but something or someone was just head of them.

_"Huh? What is tha-"_ He froze in place

"So, you're going back to Aincrad to see about that new Fl-" Philia was quickly stopped by his hand over her mouth

"Shh!" Moving his hand, Philia instantly became more concerned

"What is it, Whi-" He waved her to stop, and in doing so, they heard the sound of metal against flesh and voices too. "Is that..."

"Over there." White pointed to where the silhouettes of people stood. "You see them?"

"You mean in the- That's...alot of players." Philia finally saw them too. five or six hooded figures holding daggers, serrated swords, and one with...

"No way..." A Hunters Saw

"White, are they fighting something?" Philia became much more worried

"Aye, and it isn't a monster." White didn't waste time drawing his sword, and Philia saw it, his eyes were narrowed, and that typical, go-lucky smile was gone. "They have a player surrounded on the ground."

"R-Really? A-Again...?" Philia whispered

"Wait here." White didn't say anything more, leaping over the hill they stood on and running with every ounce of strength he had kicked into his muscles

"W-Wait, it's too dangerous! White, wait!" Philia could only run after him too, drawing her own dagger

* * *

"Oi, you bloody bloaks, get off of him!" White growled, and the heads of the hooded men all snapped to his voice

"Tsk. It's the Strider, let's move, quickly!" The one with the Hunters Saw commanded, and the group quickly ran for the hills, leaving White to meet the remaining shards of the player, the last ones dissolving around him as he skated to a halt

"Dammit..." Looking down, White felt his vision shake again, a flash of hooded men coming back to his train of thought. "I couldn't make it..." He plunged his sword into the dirt, punching the pommel of Parting Glass. "I'm sorry."

Philia had never seen him act this way before, the anger and sorrow, it wasn't something that came to him when they were exploring the Hollow Area, but in the end, they didn't know much about one another, especially about what had happened for two years.

"It's not your fault, White. You wouldn't have made it in time, no matter how fast you ran." Philia couldn't find the words to really make it ok, how could she? It be hypocritical of her

"...Did you see his status?" She only shook her head. "Paralysis and Bleed. I don't know why that seems familiar to me, but...well, I hope my hunch is wrong because I have no idea what I'm going to do if I'm right."

"You look really scared, White." Philia pressed her hand to his shoulder, and slowly, a small smile made its way back to his face

"I think it's time to call it a day, Philia." With that, he turned to walk for the nearest Obelisk

"Yeah, ok..."

* * *

Administration Area

"You know, sticking around here probably isn't the safest option..." White placed his hands on his hips in though, sighing at the problem at hand. "But given your cursor, what would be the point in going back? You'd be attacked by the guardian. If only that Orange Cursor wasn't there..."

"Umm...listen. It's nice of you to worry about me, but I'm doing just fine right here." Philia assured White

"Philia..." White didn't know how to respond

**=Pause=**

"I feel so useless right now, and I typically am to a 'T', but this, why did this have to happen here? PKers, and their method...I really hope it isn't 'them', and if it is, then leaving Philia here will only make things worse." White didn't know what to do or did he

"Wait...Orange Cursor...That's it! A Karma Quest!" White then paused, looking to Philia's frozen image. "Hmm...quests can be done here, perhaps figuring out how to get to the other sections of the map could help, I doubt there's one here, due to the only chapel being littered with...ugh, spiders."

"Ok, brain lets keep this in mind for now."

**=Resume=**

"I mean, if I can't go to safe zones, this place is by far the safest place to be, if I did go back, what difference is there from the Hollow Area and Aincrad?" Philia didn't hear his response, only him looking lost. Philia gave him a confident smile, placing her hands on her hips. "I've been here for a long time, I'll be fine."

"If you say so...but if you ever need me to bring backup just say, right?" White reminded her. "Teleport, Arc Sophia."

"I will, thanks." Was the last thing he heard upon the flash of light

To Be Continued...

* * *

Talk about a solar storm of events, from suspense to action, to friendship, to drama, I made it all happen, hehehe! Hope you enjoyed this, seeya in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: The Next Step

Mysteries unfold, as Philia locates something that could prove useful to find out why one of the abandoned fortresses has been converted into a hybrid of stone and obelisk. But what else is in the Hollow Area with them?


	6. Chapter 6: The Next Step

**Arc I - Unlikely Pact**

**Chapter 6 - The Next Step**

**Hollow Area, Antechambers of the Sacred Sword**

The Chambers were always in movement, the clanking of hollow footsteps from the black and red 'Sable Knights', along with the silver and gold 'Cursed Swords', their empty husks of armor a lonely feeling to the once vibrant fortress, now dusty blues, greys, and shiny blue windows. But it also housed valuable treasure.

Philia skimmed past the large hall that housed several knights, pressing her hand to the black iron door, her hood up to keep the glare of light from blinding her. Without a word, she pushed against the seal of the doors, the twin black doors sliding back into the walls, revealing a small room, with two enemies guarding what looked to be a larger enemy in the back room.

Cursed Sword - lvl 85

Sable Knight - lvl 85

_"One on the left, the other the right..."_ Philia thought without much need for caution, seeing them not react once to her entrance, even as she walked to the middle of the small room. Without any delays, Philia sprinted forwards, coming between the two knights with Sword Breaker held close to her face, feeling the heat build within her dagger

[Sword Skill - Circular Burst]

The knights both turned to strike her, yet only a thin arc of orange light crossed through their chests, the refracted light dispersing the air, along with the shattered remains of the two knights, their loot tabs vanishing with a brush of Philia's hand.

Now only the larger knight in the back remained, and to her suspicion, it guarded a silver chest. This wasn't common to find, so Philia knelt within the small passage in-front of the knight to assess it. A large, blue knight with gold trimming. Holding a massive sword of the same colors, and two, massive gold horns atop its helmet. All the while a large, white flame coated its armor.

**NM Sword of Hollow Light - 110**

Philia then looked to her own status.

[Philia: level 115]

[Health: 42000 / 42180]

[SP: 300 / 300]

Taking a moment, Philia opened her skills tab, looking down the ones she had organized for her use in combat. She quickly activated 'Darkwind' for raised evasion. 'Crack-Shot' for critical chance. Last, 'Ascension' to increase her speed.

Breathing slowly out her nose, Philia lowered her hood, spinning Sword Breaker around to point the tip towards Hollow, then, placing her index and middle finger to the face of her blade, she channeled her skill into the metal, a piercing white.

[Sword Skill - Blade Dancer]

Without a moment to lose, her feet pushed the rest of her body towards the Hollow, the flash or red in his hollow helmet turning the gears in its arms to raise its sword high, the yellow glow radiating in the air, the AOE skill, Blast.

Yet Philia slid under the hands that held the blade, slicing between Hollow's legs, slicing across its tenants with a horizontal slice, pushing her body up with her elbows, Philia spun in a corkscrew fashion, carving two diagonal lines through its back, stunning Hollow. Landing back on her feet, Philia plunged Sword Breaker three time through its spine, the red marks mingling with white under the flash of light that struck.

Hollow turned on a heel, swinging low to cleave Philia in two. That split decision to cancel her skill came to the forefront of her mind, yet that moment was a passing train of thought, placing her hand atop the face of the greatsword, and forcing all the strength into her body to propel herself off the blue blade. Curving around to come eye-to-eye with Hollow, Philia drove her dagger across the helmet, followed by a quick flip of the blade, clasping it in both hands, and thrusting it through the top of Hollow's head, swinging herself over its body and pulling the sword out through the middle of the helmet, splitting the crafted metal in-two.

Landing, Philia felt a ghostly smile touch her lips, seeing the knight fall to its knees, shattering into a downcast of glass before her eyes. She'd admit, the small tasks and adventuring she did with White had helped level her up far beyond what the Selvendys Forest could provide, say for the few hidden areas.

Placing Sword Breaker in its sheave, Philia made her way over to the chest, sitting comfortably atop a marble-white flight of stairs. Carefully, she took a moment to asses the safety of the silver container, before relaxing, flipping the chest wide open to reveal...

"A necklace?" Pulling her arm back, a 'Quest Item' was held hanging in-front of her by a silver chain. A clear gemstone overtook the hand-sized stone pendant attached, no light was seen in it or reflecting off its black surface. "Fiery Necklace...where have I seen this before?"

Suddenly, her eyes lit up at the realization.

* * *

**Floor 78, Colmart**

"I'd suggest to stand down, but let's be honest, we'd all kill each other if we felt like it?" Umbra suggested to the thugs now held by a few NPC guards, with Argo sitting atop a bar-stand, checking over the quest data logs, with White holding the other thugs by the tip of his sword too

"You guys really did yourself this time, A Plus." Argo grinned, making the hostile NPC lash out from the floor, yet a throwing knife struck his shoulder, making the would-be-hero to his clan fall face-first into the edge of the stand, paralyzed by the knife thrown by White. Argo didn't miss a beat, stepping off the bar, and onto the NPC. "That should be us, hand these guys to the guards, and we get the reward."

"'Bout time, this two-part quest has been more tedious than exciting." Umbra sighed before the wooden splinters of a bar stool were shattered across his shoulders, his head turning to the man responsible, quickly backhanding him across the face, throwing him into the wall to be held down by the knights. "My next question, where was 'MY' throwing knife!?"

"What, you think I'm just giving these away?" White bluntly pointed out, the two staring each other down for a moment. "'Cause I'm not - Besides, you're wearing armor that has the power to rival a cannon to the face, what 'knife' do you need?"

"It's not a matter of use, only the moral behind it. You're basically saying you wouldn't prevent an assassin from killing me?" Umbra argued, with Argo merely watching with amusement, a trollish grin on her face

"What assassin would attack a walking tank with a personality only a hydra could love?" White calmly backfired, with Umbra's body beginning to glow with void energy. "And who lights up like a Christmas tree?"

"Bite me, asshole!"

"My point exactly." White smugly grinned. That's when a message appeared. "Let's put a pin to that."

Opening the message, White read down the small letter.

* * *

_White,_

_I found something that might lead us to something to do with the obelisk that had blocked the entrance to the Shrine of Offerings. I don't know what you're doing or when you'll get this, so meet me in the entrance to the Sunken Armory at 15:00. Pass through the Abandoned Weapon Test Site. See you soon. _

_Philia._

* * *

"Oh cool, Philia found a piece to the grand mystery of the Hollow Area! And when the hell did an obelisk - questions for later..." White happily sheaved his sword again, his knee quickly cracking the thug he held at sword-point out cold, waving to Argo, and patting Umbra on the shoulder. "Message me if the rewards are good!"

"Oi, Whitey, next time I expect the red carpet!" Argo mused

"And bring me too, mate!" Umbra called back to the stairs leading back outside. Then, Umbra noticed the knife stuck between the plates in his leg armor, his bend of the joint snapping it like a twig, scaring the majority of the NPCs. "Cocky little bastard..."

"Hey, you got your knife, eh?" Argo grinned with again her trademark troll face, yet Umbra looked away with his arms crossed

"I hate you... you're a bad person."

* * *

[Sometime Later...]

**Hollow Area, Sunken Armory**

"-Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we can be. But baby, I've been, I've been praying hard~." The sudden sound of singing caught Philia off guard, making her turn on the small window ledge she sat on, looking towards the staircase leading to the underground Test Site, and it was growing closer. "Said no more counting dollars we'll be counting stars, yeah will be counting...stars."

It was White, and Philia was left only to listen with perpetual curiosity and a tapping foot.

[Old Republic - Counting Stars]

I see this life  
Like a swinging vine  
Swing my heart across the line  
In my faces flashing signs  
Seek it out and ye shall find  
The old, but I'm not that old  
Young, but I'm not that bold  
And I don't think the world is sold  
I'm just doing what we're told

I, feel something so right  
Doing the wrong thing  
I, feel something so wrong  
But doing the right thing  
I could lie, could lie, could lie  
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep  
Dreaming 'bout the things that we could be  
Baby I've been, I've been prayin' hard  
Said no more counting dollars  
We'll be counting stars

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep  
Dreaming 'bout the things that we could be  
But baby I've been, I've been prayin' hard  
Said no more counting dollars  
We'll be, we'll be counting stars

He finally came to the top of the steps, with White drumming his head softly, to Philia's surprise, he was holding an acoustic guitar, similar to what she saw of Bards, a rare class in SAO, and one she hadn't seen since the early floors of the game, yet she felt a smile reach her lips, her hand tapping against her arm.

I feel the love  
And I feel it burn  
Down this river every turn  
Hope is a four letter word  
Make that money  
Watch it burn

Old, but I'm not that old  
Young, but I'm not that bold  
And I don't think the world is sold  
I'm just doing what we're told  
I, feel something so wrong  
But doing the right thing  
I could lie, could lie, could lie  
Everything that drowns me makes me wanna fly

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep  
Dreaming about the things that we could be  
Baby I've been, I've been prayin' hard  
Said no more counting dollars  
We'll be counting stars  
Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep  
Dreaming 'bout the things that we could be  
But baby I've been, I've been prayin' hard  
Said no more counting dollars  
We'll be, we'll be counting stars

Take that money and watch it burn  
Sink in the river the lessons I learned [X4]

Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep  
Dreaming 'bout the things that we could be  
Baby I've been, I've been prayin' hard  
Said no more counting dollars  
We'll be counting stars  
Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep  
Dreaming 'bout the things that we could be  
Baby I've been, I've been prayin' hard  
Said no more counting dollars  
We'll be, we'll be counting stars

The song stopped upon White smiling as usual once he took a small look around the area, only then did he realize he had an audience, seeing the star-struck expression on Philia's face. So, he took a small bow, winking at her.

"Like the song? I do prefer acoustic though, but there are some exceptions." White rambled, with Philia giving him a small smile

"I didn't know you could sing, but...it was...really nice." Her compliment made White turn red slightly, scratching his cheek

"Thanks...usually not good with people watching me...the whole 'eyes glued to my every movement' thing seizes me up quickly." White stumbled over his words for once, so Philia cleared her throat, holding out the amulet for him to see, quickly taking his mind off the song. "Looks cheap."

"But the symbol is the same as another I found past this area. And I'm glad I did, the Forest Maze can take hours to find the exit to." Philia explained, pointing down to the monster-free hallways ahead. "I did some scouting ahead, the coast is cleared."

"Nice. So tell me...what the hell happened since I left? What 'Obelisk'?" White asked her with complete bafflement, so Philia stopped them, placing the amulet back into her inventory

"A place called the 'Shrine of Offerings' used to be like any other dungeon around here, monsters and loot, yet the entrance as of a few hours ago had been sealed off by a massive, black-steel obelisk closing off the doorway, yet the seal of a door is on the...well, technological metal." Philia's tone of voice matched White's expression. What the hell?

"Technological? Like sci-fi?" One nod was given

"It had lights unlike magic or fire, and when I went to try and push the doors open, the system announcement appeared again saying, 'Hollow Identification Key Not Found'." Philia relayed her experience, and White held a hand to his chin

"So you think this amulet, the symbol were heading for, and this door our connected in some elaborate quest?" White nutshelled

"That's all I know, I think that once we investigate this we should head for the Shrine," Philia suggested, and then snorted softly. "Crazy, I spend a month here with nothing, and now you come along with all the answers, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little envious."

"Hey?" White placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at her calmly. "We 'both' got the answers, I just happened to be the missing link in your mystery, and you to mine." That made her mood lift a little, her hand moving to form a fist hanging between them, and soon after, White bumped with his own

"Ok...we're in this together." Philia felt the confidence rise at her own words, and White looked to feel the same, moving ahead to rush down the hall

"Let's go then!" Philia just followed suit, tugging on her hood slightly as they ran for the end of the Sunken Armory

* * *

On the outside of the Sunken Armory were several stone pillars down the flight of steps ahead, and the walls of earth that bridged the gap between them and the Forest Maze. Yet ahead of them, past passive monsters was the edge of the world. Literally.

The Selvendys Forest gave weigh to a massive drop into the unknown below, the mountain they were apparently on continued on in chunks of floating islands and castles, far above the clouds across a large, white bridge ahead. Moving up towards the bank of grass leading to the bridge, they saw the rest of the Hollow Area from where they stood, even if far back, the distance was unlike anything they've seen.

"Ooooh, Umbra would kill for his Archwing now!" White happily took out his 'photo tab', grabbing the rather passive Philia by the arm, swinging her into his body without any hesitation. Philia didn't take the sudden close contact well, her cheeks turning color, yet he didn't let go. "One photo, pleeeease?"

"...o-okay, sure." Philia agreed, feeling the warmth from the holographic chestplate on White, but she remained still, her own arm on autopilot to wrap around the back of his neck, resting over his shoulder. White grinned happily, with Philia smiling softly, her right hand against her hip, then, the tab flashed lightly, and White let her go, not noting her red cheeks. "Was it good?"

"Yep, check it!" White flipped the tab her way, and she quickly turned beet red

_"Oh God...I look like a dork, but he does too...but...gah! Stop doing that, Philia!"_ Her internal conflict went unnoticed by White, for he was too busy using the filters on the picture, getting the lighting into a keyframe. "..."

**=Pause=**

"I have to admit, Philia's alot nicer than when I first met her over a week ago, I guess being alone for so long would make anyone antisocial, but she's coming around...I think?" White looked to her for a moment, then to the picture, closing his tab. "She'll come around, I won't push her to do so if it makes her uncomfortable."

**=Resume=**

"Hey, Philia, is that it there?" White pointed, and she snapped out of her trance, turning to see the golden seal on the arch before the bridge

"Yeah...they match completely, we should - wait..." Philia froze mid-step, with White bumping into the back of her

"Waiting has never been a strong suit of mine." White joked, but the expression on her face was the same as when they gathered the ring on that small quest of there's, she saw something threatening. "What is it?"

"Follow me." Philia quickly jogged to the small hill atop the grass, with White following her, the two crouching to watch what Philia had seen. It took a while, but White saw what it was. "Over there."

"A player?" White didn't know why Philia was soon shaken about a typical player, why one had access to a 'restricted zone' like Yui said wasn't so unreal anymore, that glitch changed everything

[Ultio - lvl 250]

Both Philia and White were utterly flabbergasted by the impossible level the player was at, it certain would have taken days to accomplish, even for anyone to find a decent XP grind or loot cave.

Ultio was wearing slim, black armor, with strange, runes running up his sleeves, and the same symbol White had on his hand was on his chest, luckily it didn't seem to be real, only a logo. His helmet was similar in tone to Zer0's, with a smooth face-plate, and his hair covered at the back, whist several wire-like cords hung from the back like hair.

Resting in his left hand was a long, black halberd, with a silver axe/spearhead, those same runes shimmering across the black teak wood, the bottom tipped off with a silver pike.

Then, his body flashed bright red, a small, grey collar around his jacket glowing the same color, and soon, the three Flying Serpents, and Harpies had turned towards him.

"Did he just use an agro attraction skill?" Philia whispered, yet White didn't say a word, only watching him carefully

The first of the Flying Serpents came flying towards Ultio, spinning as it did with its scythe-arms extended, the poisonous tail snapping in his direction. In that frame, he merely spun his Halberd around his back, passing it to the right, then in a swift uppercut, the tail was sliced in two, the limb turning completely red, before shattering, the rest of its body following suit, the head of the Serpent impaled on the head of the spear, the arms going limp.

The next sliced at Ultio's back, the red mark appearing for a moment, yet he only moved backward from the next diagonal slice, grabbing the arm, then with a thrust of his halberd, he severed the limb, before grasping his halberd in both hands, the Serpent flying at him in a spin, so he slid under it, impaling it through the chest, pushing back with his feet, causing the Serpent to fly towards the ground, lifting Ultio off the ground, yet his body weight pushed the halberd through the spine of the Serpent, a sickening _crunch _rattled the air, the Serpent erupting into glass.

The third one tried to circle around Ultio, yet he latched an arm around its tail, pulling it back towards him, hooking the axe around the back of its neck, pulling back to slice the side of the snake's neck, spinning the halberd around to gut-punch the Serpent, before swinging the halberd around, _crashing_ the axe through the shoulder of the Serpent, breaking its arm, and throwing it across the grass.

The two harpies he attracted screamed upon reaching his point, their sonic skills forcing Ultio back slightly, once the ringing stopped, he ran for the nearest one, which tried to fly back to avoid him, but he merely sunk the spearhead into the ground, pole-vaulting his body high into the air, making White's jaw drop. Grasping the halberd, the man swung the axe down, and through the center of the harpy's skull, slicing its head in two.

Landing, Ultio looked to the last Harpy, its talons slicing at his chest, leaving the red marks behind, yet he merely stood there without worry, yet his left hand did twitch at the sudden attack, but that short moment of fear had turned to rage. Planting the halberd down into the dirt, he snapped his hand around the Harpy's neck, coiling his hands around it, silencing the screams with a sickening twist of its neck, followed by him shoving the Harpy through the ax-head. Grabbing his Halberd, he shook the monster off, killing it like the rest.

"That was...bloody awesome." White giggled with glee, yet Philia remained stoic

"He's far stronger than any player I've seen here...and the way he fought, nothing phased him," Philia added, yet White tapped her shoulder quickly. "What?"

"You think he can see us?" Instantly, Philia snapped her head to see that the player stood near the bridge, his halberd back in his left hand, yet his head looked in their direction, yet, even from their point they could see the clenched fist he held by his side, and his head was directed at White Hat

Then, he began to walk towards them.

"I think he can see us!" White yelled, quickly snatching Philia's arm with his, pulling her back towards the Sunken Armory, passing the larger wasps on the way

Philia was going to ask him to slow down, yet she saw his terrified face, the look he held in his eyes made her remember yesterday, how angry and confused he was over the PKers they encountered, and now a man with a level unlike any normal player happens to be coming for them has White shaken. So, Philia ran beside him.

"To the Obelisk, activate it!" Philia panicked, just hearing the burst of glass from behind them told that Ultio was closing in, and yet Philia's reactions only made it clear how daunting the situation had become. "Hurry!"

Without wasting time, White placed his hand on the obelisk, before switching to his left, forgetting the symbol was on the left hand, soon, the golden rune lit up. By now the player was mere few feet from them. So White pulled Philia close to him, holding an arm around her back as tightly as he could, giving the figure a final look.

"Teleport!" He didn't dare say where they were heading, since he activated it, the obelisk didn't need a command. Luckily, the flash of light took them both, and Ultio stood in silence, grunting once at the sight of only the teleport gate, before turning back towards the floating isles

* * *

"Wah-Ow!" White groaned upon hitting the glass-like floor of the Administration Area, noting the weight added on his landing, and the locks of dandelion hair in his vision. "You ok Philia?"

"Yes, that was too close," Philia replied shakily, rubbing the back of her head

"Glad you're safe, but my stomach might not be so gracious." White wheezed, immediately, Philia looked to see she was sitting on his stomach, and quickly leapt off him, avoiding his gaze embarrassingly

"Sorry." Philia muttered to him

"I was the one to drag you in...so no need." White waved off, patting his gut. "Just glad it was a nice girl that landed on me, and not the business end of a spearhead."

"Still...he wasn't like the other players I've seen here." Philia rebound the conversation, and White stood in silence to hear her out. "...It might sound strange, but the players here...they don't have a 'base' or hometown, I would have atleast found some hint of one, but there isn't."

"Tried asking?" Philia nodded. "Ok, that's stranger than I like to admit, sounds like they might be sticking around like you."

"No, none of them believe they are in this 'Hollow Area', they say its Aincrad." That made White's eyebrow rise, his crossed arms slumping, yet Philia looked worried. "I just don't understand why they were so...clueless like the Death Game didn't even matter, all they care about is completing quests and other typical tasks, but...I don't know, they looked, _sounded_ off."

"You thinking they might be NPCs?" White questioned

"Perhaps. But that guy back there, he wasn't like them, no NPC could do what he did." Philia pointed to the map, her eyes wavering slightly. "I just have no idea what's going on anymore."

"We both have access to an area locked at the start of SAO that only Admins can access. Unknown items, enemies, skills, and NPCs are located here. Implementation quests seem to have a splash effect on Aincrad drop tables too. A mysterious obelisk has blocked what could be the boss of this area, meaning the other several unique places here might share the same goal." White then pointed to Philia, who was completely silent during his listing. "The amulet you have might unlock those doors, and that's all I know, bar the strange player."

"How did - what?" Philia knew White wasn't stupid, but the fact he kept all the information in check was...she paused, seeing his cunning grin, his fingers tapping the book on his belt

"I like to keep track of everything I've done in this game, from mechanics to friends, events, and strange mysteries I cannot solve," White replied to her silent question. "I don't have to be the smartest guy in the room, just the one with the biggest memory."

Philia smiled a little more at that. "Ok, so what do we do next?"

"Why ask me, we know what's next." White clapped, pointing to the map in front of them. "Tomorrow, we're taking down a boss."

**=Pause=**

White winked with a thumbs up.

"Sorry for the long wait, and... questionable grammar, buuuut..."

"To Be Continued..."

* * *

New mysteries await, and the appearance of a strange, powerful player even has White on edge, if the PKers weren't enough. Also, the music used for Ultio relates to him, I just won't say how, and his name. Other than that, hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!

P.S. I've seen some people liking this story so here's the next chapter, hope you liked it :) Also, White likes to sing.

Next Chapter: Event - [Meal Fit For A King]

The night before White joins Philia in taking on the area's boss, the gang is given a moment to enjoy a feast among one-another, yet Umbra isn't so sure White enjoys it.


	7. Chapter 7: Meal Fit For A King

**Arc I - Unlikely Pact**

**Chapter 7 - Meal Fit For A King**

**Floor 76, Arc Sophia, Plaza**

Twilight had descended across all of Aincrad, the streets once filled with many players and NPCs now only housed a select few that wandered around, some laughing in groups that came back from the field, even as White stepped off the teleport gate, another flash of light brought two more through. White did the usual.

"Evening." He bowed, the two waving politely at him

**=Pause=**

"Today's been a rush, first the Hollow Area gives us a major clue as to what it contains and this mysterious Ultio guy whose level exceeds any I've seen this far up, _and_ who apparently recognizes me." White flicked through different scenes showing the keystone, then Ultio and his halberd

"Come tomorrow, Philia plans to work with me to defeat Selvendys Forest's Area Boss, past a tech-no-logic-al obelisk that _somehow_ appeared there, which might open up that symbol blocking the bridge, for now though, it's time for some R&R."

**=Resume=**

"Heh. Heh. Heh. White, over here man!" Turning on his heel like a crooked statue, White now came face-to-face with Klein, who quickly bumped fists with White's. "You won't believe it, I did it, man, I finally did it!"

White wasn't given a moment to say anything, the man had already crushed his windpipe with an arm, happily pulling him towards the direction the Streamline Inn was located. White did attempt to notify the strangely chipper man, yet he continued to laugh like a schoolgirl.

"This is gonna blow all of you away!" Klein was lost in his own world, that is until the finger jabbed him in the eye. "Ack! Oh crap, sorry little buddy."

"I...*gasp*...don't really*gasp*need...*gasp*oxygen anyways..." White coughed, clearing his throat quickly, then he clapped his hands like a monkey with cymbals. "So then, what has one of my two favorite katana users happy tonight?"

"Hold on, we need everyone to see this, I'm all the way up now, baby!" Klein left White in suspense, so he just shrugged, chasing after the man who left him in the dust

* * *

Inside the Inn's cafe, just about everyone Klein and White knew was there, bar Argo, wherever she is. White walked in with his hands in the red pockets on his jacket, with Klein taking center stage, slamming his hand on the table before Kirito, Yui, Umbra, and Asuna, the rest all looking up from what they were doing.

"What's got you so worked up, Klein?" Kirito asked, and he literally repeated what tangent he gave White, who spun a chair around and sat beside Strea

"Hmm...why is Klein so happy? Did he finally get a date?" Strea's curious notion made White hold back a laugh for the unlucky guy

"N-no, just he found something and wanted all of us to be here, whatever that is?" White shrugged, resting his arms on the back of the chair, placing his head on top. "Let's just hear him...that's alot of meat."

**=Pause=**

"Say a joke. I dare you."

**=Resume=**

"Is that...No way! A Flying Buffalo A5 meat!? That's some S-class food right there!" Agil looked as if Jesus had walked into the Inn, quickly stopping whatever it was he was doing with his tabs opened

"That's pretty amazing, Klein." Kirito commended his friend, who merely stood proudly with a smug grin

"Heh heh, you can say that again! Got any more compliments for me?" Klein was making Umbra look like a saint in comparison, both White and Umbra shared a look, with White making a zip-motion against his lips, and Umbra nodded once

"S-class? This meat is S-class?" Liz asked, not truly believing the meat before her was such a rare item, so Umbra mumbled something to Yui, pointing to the slab of meat before them

"The Flying Buffalo is a rare monster in itself - and it's almost unheard of for dropping S-class meat. This is as rare as it gets!" Yui's quick analysis of the system thanks to Umbra made Klein gape with culture shock. "In fact, this might be the first time this item has dropped in Aincrad!"

"Really!? I'm the first one to ever do this!?" Klein couldn't believe what he was hearing, then a large, metal scythe of white, red, and black was sunk into the table, the 'Immortal Object' sign appearing where Umbra sat with his legs up on the table

"This here's 'Hate', a scythe dropped by an uncommon enemy called the 'Stalker', and this happens to have the lowest drop rate of any weapon blueprint in Warframe, a rate of 5%." In a flash, the scythe was gone again. "That slab of meat is rarer than a high-tech combat scythe that only a select few can acquire without buying it. In Layman's terms, I'd get nine more Hates before I got my hands on that A5 food there."

"Hahaha! Looks like my luck is finally turning around!" Klein was on top of the world thanks to Umbra extra added comparison

"No way! Now that you mention it, that does look pretty delicious..." Liz muttered at the sight of the food before them

"And there's so much of it, how many portions you think we can get out of it?" Leafa curiously asked everyone, and Kirito tapped a finger against his cheek in thought

"Well...about an average cow can feed around 100 to 200 people." His simple answer nearly made Leafa's jaw hit the table

"R-Really!?"

"Aye, downside, thing will need to be sliced and diced before we can begin to lift this for any form of cooking." Umbra reminded them, before counting out with his fingers. "If you plan to cook this, you'll need a Gordon Ramsay level of cook. A kitchen with the equipment prepped. And...wait, nevermind."

"What is it?" Sinon inquired, seeing the dark aura surrounding Umbra

"The third one only really applies to me. Be thankful you got my dumbass instead of Ceres, otherwise, she would have already ransacked Klein and left for the nearest diner." Almost everyone looked at him with fear, then their eyes went to the surprisingly quiet White, who looked up and blinked

"Oh, yeah, Ceres is batsh - ahem, creepily insane on every level of the word." White would never stay in the same kitchen as her when she got into her cooking phase, that's a recipe for disaster if you got in her way. "But she does make food that even monsters would love."

"You see, it's not all about luck, you know?" Klein began, and Umbra slowly opened his menu, pressing the 'Mute' on Klein quickly. "It takes real talent to take down one of those monsters before it gets away. I'm talking of course, about 'MY' talent!"

"Here we go again..." Liz sighed

"You won't believe how hard it is to take one of these guys down when they're flying all over the place...And now that I know what the trick is, it's not going to be difficult anymore." Klein began, his face growing serious. "The first thing you have to do is keep a close eye on their spawn points. To do this, you need to find yourself a good hiding spot. Once you've done that you just got to wait - and make sure you don't get spotted. Of course, these monsters aren't so keen on showing themselves either, so-"

"I'm not interested in all that stuff. I only care about how the food will taste." Like his head was lined to a wall, Sinon shot him down quick

"'All that stuff'? You don't know the half of it, Sinon..." Klein sighed in disappointment, yet she merely rolled her eyes. Yet his smile returned "But fine if you want to talk about the meat..."

"So then, does that mean you're going to share this, Klein?" Liz nudged the side of him with a sly grin

"Of course I am! Just...maybe not all of it..." No one could blame the man, this was a valuable item to be found

"Well if you plan to cook it, Umbra is right, you'll need a cook to handle it, given that most of us would burn it if we tried." Agil reminded him

"Agil's right, if we don't handle this right, we could ruin it." Silica enforced the caution needed with the delicate subject before them, luckily, Asuna was on the case

"Well, my shop's venue is open if you need it, only if the chef's willing to do the cooking?" Agil looked to Asuna, who had already done a few key notes in her head on how to prep the larger than normal portion

"If everyone's going to be eating together, I'm happy to help." Asuna accepted the offer, making Klein clap his hands, rubbing them together excitedly

"Then it's settled! And there's no point being all tight-fisted at a time like this, let's eat every last scrap!" Klein ushered in his decree like some form of dictator

"That's the spirit, Klein, let's stuff ourselves!" Liz cheered alongside him

"Hell yeah!" The two raised their fists into the air with a laugh, making White grin a little at the sight, noting down something else into it notebook

[Post-1984]

_-its strange, given the time spent in SAO has made us all but forget the Death Game around us, this is a digital world, and yet small things bring us closer. We learn to accept and join those we know_

He saw Yui and Umbra having a rock, paper, scissors match, with Kirito watching humorously as Umbra hung his head in defeat, Yui laughing happily.

_-both with common or conflicting interests_

Klein was trying to explain to Sinon the importance of his 'quest', yet she merely gave a deadpan look, opting to walk away, the man calling out to her.

_-Yet no matter how different we all are, and the harsh reality ahead of us, I know its these moments together that make the two years not seem so wasted, in fact, I think we all 'lived' in this world like any other._

_End of Log._

"I do need a few items in order to cook some of the dishes I have planned." Asuna pointed out, so Umbra paused his game with Yui, turning to look at her

"I and the Boss can handle that, what ya need?" Umbra inclined, and Asuna quickly sent him a message with the small list, once giving it a quick look over, he nodded, clicking his fingers at White. "Boss, we got a job!"

"Awesome! We'll be back after doing...whatever it is we are doing." White quickly joined Umbra's side, and two headed out

"Erm, you sure you guys don't need some help?" Kirito warily asked, yet Klein merely stepped before him, eyeing him carefully

"Don't you go skipping out, you could learn something from my experience!" Klein had already cornered him off, so Umbra and White laughed, quickly jogging out of the Inn

"That poor unfortunate soul." Umbra grimaced

"In pain, in need~." White began to sing, yet a quick hit to the back of the head from Umbra shut him down. "You're no fun..."

"And you make my brain cells commit suicide one-by-one," Umbra argued back.

* * *

[Later That Night...]

The feast had begun, right after Kirito convinced Klein to eat instead of continually talking about his 'less than exciting' hunting mission. Before they sat at a dinner fit to feed dozens, each dish gave off its own aroma of quality and smell, their textures rich, golden, carefully placed and prepped for a cautious choice of what it was meant to be.

A traditional Irish stew. Carefully cut and seasoned mince with a roast. Medium-Rare grilled steak with a sauce made from the juices of the dish for an extra kick of flavor and scent. Overall, everyone was awaiting the call of Klein, who drooled at the sight, yet above everything else, White was unusually silent, and Umbra noticed this under his helmet, perks of never taking his armor off around others, he was impossible to read.

"-Anyway, as you said, you guys will never be able to eat this again, so make sure to fill yourselves up good!" Klein informed them

"Thanks, Klein. Hold on though, aren't you going to eat any? I mean you hunted the Flying Buffalo in the first place..." Kirito pointed out, and White was too busy whining for them to hurry up and say they could eat, and Umbra still stared at him, he knew White could switch on a dime, but his level of silence was suspicious

"I can get more meat whenever. Tonight is all about you guys, so eat up!" He waved away the concern, making a motion for everyone to dig in. But Klein noticed the look on Kirito's face. "Its fine man! I'll grab a bite or two when you guys are all full."

"Well, you heard the man. Bon appetite, everyone!" Leafa now joined White in his carnage of trying all the dishes before them, and White felt his insides cry out in harmony

"By the Gods, the stew is so bloody gooooood~!" White cried, seeing Umbra shift his helmet to allow his mouth to show, as it quickly took a sip of his own portion of the stew, and he immediately bit his lip

"Holy crap, this is amazing. It's like God created the perfect dish and made every atom with complete perfection." Umbra continued to scarf the stew down, while White did the same, the two happy to eat away at what they had. "You all better eat, otherwise that stew is gonna go! Right, Boss!?"

"Aye, Sir!"

* * *

A while later, almost everyone had finished the lot, with Klein looking desperate to join in, yet Umbra was busy looking through his menu for something, before he finally converted the item before his eyes, throwing it into the trade menu for White to suddenly see before his eyes.

"Accept it, Boss." White didn't question it, and pressed the tab, seeing the oddly specific item enter his inventory, his gaze drifting to the armored friend before him. "Go. I'll cover for you, just make sure all our friends get a taste, yeah?"

"That about sums it up, yes." White was caught out by Umbra, who wasn't an idiot as he proclaims, he knew White was holding out since one friend was missing. Argo was, well, Argo, so she wouldn't mind, yet there was one other White didn't see before them. "Seeya tomorrow I guess."

"Good luck with the Raid." He waved off, not caring for the suspicious look Asuna gave him. "Are you trying to set me on fire with your mind? Friends can do things in secret too."

"..." She didn't say a word and continued to eat

* * *

**Hollow Area, Administration Area**

"Ahh, why do I always keep my eyes open!" Philia was suddenly jolted out of her lucid rest by a familiar voice, turning her head against the console, she was surprised to see White, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "Philia, you here?"

"W-White? Why are you here?" Philia tried not to sound harsh, but he didn't seem to mind, blinking a few times to adjust his vision again, then his arms shot into the air for a second

"I'm here to see you of course!" He replied happily

"Wha?" Philia blinked, her head tilted in confusion, so White cleared his throat

"Well, I know you don't leave the Hollow Area as often, so because I'd knew you'd be here, I'd thought to bring you something from Aincrad with more...'oomph' to taste," White replied, patting his arm. "Got some S-class food on me for you."

"Wait...S-class, but that...really rare, like rarer than anything I could find here!?" Philia gaped, yet noticed White pulling her by the hand towards the console to sit against, Philia merely sat down beside him, not saying a word. "White, you really don't have to do this."

"Oh I know, but I want to." While his face was fixated on his items, Philia felt herself perk up at that, silently staring at his silver eyes that rolled down the text that only he could see. "There! Convert to object..._Boop_."

Before them both sat a steaming bowl of stew, just the smell alone held so many collective scents that mingled to create a warm, and near drooling sensation to their sense of smell, the texture a soft brown with well-cooked chunks of juicy meat, carrots, and potatoes, adding to the colors.

Not wanting to waste another second, White raising a spoon up for Philia to take, which she did, but stopped to look at the dish that made her own stomach groan, causing her to turn red slightly, her eyes looking through her locks of hair at White.

"It's not poisonous, trust me, I've tried it, and if I were to eat anything else I'd probably die, despite this being a safe zone." White prattled on humorously, handing the bowl over to Philia, who felt the warmth against her hand, slowly, she dunked the spoon in, lifting out a mouthful towards her lips, all the while White sat without any sign of malice or envy

When Philia ate the mouthful, her taste buds electrified with an untold amount of sweet-tasting flavors and sensations, her entire body felt the radiating warmth of the stew run down her throat, heating up her insides, and making her sigh happily at the taste. Yet, she grasped the spoon tightly for a moment, her heart beating a few ticks faster at her thoughts, whilst biting her lip.

"Philia? You still alive?" White honestly thought he killed her, but her health didn't deplete so why was she so shaken?

Philia had spent the last month stuck in this Hollow Area alone, every attempt to escape seemed hopeless, and every player here was completely devoid of anything that made them human, they were like blanks given false memories. She even...that day, she nearly killed White, the first player she's seen in so long, and he never wanted to hurt or mislead her, no matter how abrasive she was, he always came back.

He fought beside her. Enhanced her weapon. _Trusted_ her...and...now this...she felt so guilty for it, because there was nothing she could do to repay him. Slowly, White tensed up at Philia's head resting against his shoulder, her head facing down and her eyes covered by her hair, leaving his expectations a mystery.

"...Thank you...thank you." Philia forced out her throat, afraid she'd say the wrong words, but this time she didn't, it was her, this was what she always wanted to truthfully say. White's own face held no expression for a while, till his smile crept back onto his face, his hand placed under hers to keep her food from falling. He turned his body slightly, allowing his left hand to wrap around her back, slowly rubbing in circles

"I told you before, we're _going_ to figure out what this place holds, and I'm _going_ to help you rid that Orange cursor so you can leave." At that, Philia shuddered, her breath catching in her throat, while her heartbeat moved a few ticks faster with a chilling fear

_"Did he know...? So, why?" _Philia couldn't begin to formulate a response, only a small nod

"Somewhere out there is a quest that can remove your cursor, so we'll find it, together," White concluded, feeling Philia's hand under his tense against the bowl

"Why?"

"We're friends, what other reason do I need to help you?" White grinned, patting her back

"We're...friends?" Philia rolled the word around her head, and so slowly, she raised her head back up, and White was left to stare in awe at the sight of Philia smiling brightly. "I'm glad I could have a friend like you."

"..." White just smiled, flicking the second spoon in his fingers. "Now then, lets be sure that nothing will hold us back."

"Okay."

To Be Continued...

* * *

Ahh, the feels! Anyways, hope this funny/touching chapter was a nice break since next is all about action and thrills, so I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: Area Boss - [Two Against Fifty]

Without delay, both White and Philia travel to the mysterious obelisk that had overwritten the Shrine of Offerings. With the keystone's help, they make it in, but it won't be easy going back


	8. Chapter 8: Two Against Fifty

**Arc I - Unlikely Pact**

**Chapter 8 - Two Against Fifty**

**Hollow Area, Administration Area**

Slowly, Philia felt herself rise from one of the few best sleeps she's had for over a month, being wrapped in a world that might kill you at any point, with Player Killers, strange NPCs, and powerful monsters would force any sane person into a state of sleep deprivation, for her though, she finally could wake up to a familiar place which offered her safety, for now.

Yet when her hand touched the spot she rested on, there was a familiar, royal red coat sitting where her head was, and soon her face dived into a deep shade of crimson, remembering that she had fallen asleep against White after he gave her that stew to eat. While it was a nice thought, she still had one, fearful question. Where was he?

_***FWOOSH***_

"Hahaha, suck it Skeletor!" White fell into the Administration Area with a confident laugh, his body looked like it had been burned, smoke rising from parts of his body from whatever he was doing before. "Don't stop me now! I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball!"

"White, are you alright?" Turning on his heel with his hands together, he noted Philia was holding his jacket, and looked worried for his health, given it was in the red

"Aye, I swear, this is only the first area, and I ran into...ok, let me start from the beginning."

"So I was doing this super boring Element Implementation, about...something, wasn't paying attention, then BOOM! Massive skeleton in spiky armour and stuff came crashing in from nowhere." White expressed with his hands outstretched, then a crash with his fists

"So he came swinging like 'RAWR' so I hit back, 'BAM-BAM-POW', took some bleeding, then it started breathing freaking fire!" White recreated the entire fight with expressions and actions, and Philia went from being concerned, to simply laughing at the sight of his movement. "And I-."

"I-I'm sorry, but w-what is with those actions!?" Philia couldn't keep herself from laughing at White's strange pose, he looked like he was ready to do a Kamehameha Wave. White soon found himself laughing a little too, seeing her hold out his jacket for him. "H-here, I think you could have done better with it."

"But if I left, you would have had nothing to rest your head against." Soon an evil smile crossed his face, Philia's slowly paling with a nervous chuckle

"Wha?" Her question was brought forth by him flicking an image around, and in mere seconds her core temperature rose to solar levels, her face burning with cherry red cheeks. _"W-w-w-what!?"_

The image was of Philia sleeping against the neatly folded coat, her hands close to her face, Philia's mouth ajar, overall, she looked really cute to White, for Philia, she wanted to curl into a ball and die.

"Whyyyyy...?" Philia shriveled up under her hood, now covering her eyes

"Worth. Every. Shot." White pointed to the picture, and Philia covered her face with her hands in pure embarrassment, the steam rising through them

"Noooo..." She sobbed

* * *

[Sometime Later...]

**Selvendys Shrine, Front Square**

After Philia had recovered under White's hysterical laughter, and a dagger to threaten his life over the image, the two now walked up to what would have been the entrance to what they only assumed to be the Area Boss, since 'Floors' weren't a thing here. The entire entrance had changed as Philia explained before, the pillars and broken arches remained in their overgrown state, with the same mossy staircase leading to the Shrine, yet that's where the similarities ended.

From the steps, onwards, the once stain-glass windows were now columns of light between black steel walls, the same, white light resonating between slits in the metal like veins. The massive, oak doors now were a triangular pointed door, with a square pad sitting in the middle of the tip like a seal.

The other thing was, a massive, black obelisk pierced the Shrine in the back, breaking and editing the gargantuan tree that made itself the centerpiece of Selvendys, it also released a massive arc of white light into the air, almost similar to a continuous breath of fire from a dragon.

"Ok, how did we miss this?" Philia walked towards the steps, with White pointing to himself. "How did I miss this?"

"I don't know as I said, it only converted the Shrine 'after' we left where the PKers were." Philia elaborated on their previous encounter with the mysterious murderers, yet White clapped happily at the sight of the door

"Ooooh, I so excited!" He was alone in that, seeing Philia's blunt expression, forcing him to whistle for a moment. "Hehehe, sorry. Madam, if you would be so kind..." Bowing at Philia, White stretched his hands out for her to bring forth the amulet from her inventory

In a flash, she held out the stone pendant, the grey gem slowly turning to face the square on the door, if only by mere instinct, the door instantly whirled to life at the sight, and a small spark ran along the edge of the door, splitting off to the left and right of the square, before meeting back again to continue towards the ground. The moment it did touch the end of the door, steam breached the gap, and the doors slowly slid back diagonally into the walls, revealing the entrance to...a highly modified Shrine, the red carpet still in-place.

"You ready?" Both of them simultaneously asked the other, and both nodded too. Philia placed the amulet away, drawing Sword Breaker, with White spinning Parting Glass in his hand. "No turning back now."

Slowly, the two crept into the large Shrine, stepping onto the velvet carpet, which now sat on a semi-complete maze. The walls were still like the Shrine, grey stone, with blue windows, yet the floors and ceiling were a smooth, black metal, with cubic patterns jutting out from the ceiling and floor like stalagmites.

**Shrine of Universal's Feast**

"That's...unsettling." White gulped, both hearing the doors slam shut behind them. "Oh, great, didn't want to leave anyway. Plus, the music isn't helping..."

"You always like this?" Philia muttered

"Only when I can't make heads or tails of things. And that right now..." White's hand guested to the entire room, specifically to a floating cube. "It's very high."

Due to her experience in the area before the change, Philia brought out her map, making it visible for White to view over her shoulder. The two looked to see that the entire map was still the same, bar the final area that looked a little larger than the others. There was one path to the far right, and one straight ahead past the crossroad.

"You see, although this metal's infected the area, the map hasn't changed in the slightest, expect the room straight ahead." She pointed past the crossroads to a medium-sized room. "This used to be the part that took up the majority of the area, now its the room past it."

"..." White didn't speak, only patting Philia's shoulder as he followed the map he kept engraved in his head. If his instincts were right, it wasn't just the area that had changed, but the spawns might have too

Philia walked slowly behind him, watching as he turned the bend to their right, then around to a large door to the room, no monsters came, so with a press of his hand, White opened the door, and Philia was left to understand White's odd silence.

"The room is empty. Bar those three dark spots, figures." White rolled his eyes dully, seeing the vacant room ahead. "Tell me, was their a Named Enemy in here?"

"A massive, fleshy creature would guard a chest I robbed from under it, it's level would be around 125." Philia relayed, seeing White peaking around a pillar to where she said it would be

"Well, it's gone." White pointed with a monotone expression, bar his smile. Philia ran up behind him to peek over, and to her shock, it was gone, a creature the size of a house has...vanished, only the red and gold chest remained, sadly the three black spots were surrounding it. "No free loot for this guy."

Yet it wasn't just that, across the right-hand side of the wall, red code was thrown across the walls like blood, all bugging in place, with a white patch the size of a plane ripping through the corner of the wall, leaving only an empty spot among the distorted code.

"Philia, I don't think this Obelisk is here for show, what I do think...we are not alone in this strange place." White's reply made a cold chill run up their spines, so White nudged the perplexed Philia, seeing her eyes adjust back to reality. "Let's move, while they wander."

"Right." Proceeding across the hall, avoiding the black smogs that slid across the hall, neither of them saw the rose-colored eyes staring back from beyond a pillar

* * *

Pushing the final door open, the two now viewed a massive, grand hall, torn flags still hanging from the arches, with broken glass windows, and more black metal cubes. But following the velvet carpet was a small army of skeletons, not Templars, Sables, or Cursed. But all their equipment had a black sheen to it now, their hollow helmets given white eyes.

**Blood of the Scourge - lvl 90**

"Twenty-Two...Four...Seven over there...oh, and the one to the left...y-yeah there's about fifty monsters between us and the door." White counted out, swinging Parting Glass around in his hand with glee, and Philia was busy looking through her stats

"We might not even need buffs yet, so long as we keep on our toes." She murmured, not seeing the slow preparation White was caught into, his feet slowly moving to place his left foot forward, and his right back, holding Parting Glass down near his right thigh

"This is gonna be fun. Rule Number One, Philia." White began, clicking his fingers to the music in his head. "Never overthink a situation, always keep a clear mind and an open heart." He tightened the grip on his sword. "Rule Two, no matter what, never take an innocent life, player or not, that does not include monsters. And Rule Three..."

The first of the army of Blood was quickly brought to a swift end, the tip of Parting Glass sunk clean through his throat, its health gone immediately, leaving only the mad grin on White's face. "Have fun doing what you love!"

**=Pause=**

"Que the music if you wouldn't mind." White clicked his fingers, stepping ahead for the army

**=Resume=**

"White, wait!" It was far too late to stop him, the Blood all twisted their heads towards White and Philia, their swords risen, and their bucklers close, and White only laughed, with Philia shaking her head with bewilderment. "Honestly, you are hopeless..."

Atleast twelve of the Blood knights leapt forwards, their swords a dark purple, some a sharp gold, all attacking from different angles, while some separated, and others grouped to take on Philia, who had already sliced two down with twin thrusts through the head. White, contrarily held his ground, channeling an ice-blue light through Parting Glass, holding the sword down near his right leg, pointing it backward.

_"Time for the surprise."_

[Special Skill - Boundless Dance of Pandemonium]

Untapped light quickly blinded every enemy in the area of the sword skill's effect, as Philia rubbed her eyes under her arm, only for them to widen at the sight of a whirlwind of hardlight versions of White's Parting Glass. White spun his sword around to point the tip down, with a quick plunge into the ground, the swords scattered like rose petals, the trails of ice-blue slicing and puncturing the horde of enemies in a moment of pure light, almost like stars in the night sky.

*Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter*

"I get it now, he's using brute strength to quickly thin their numbers, we've only got about thirty left." Philia's thoughts egged on to what White meant. Spinning to her left, a Blood missed striking her with her guard down, and it was joined by two others to her left and back

Philia narrowed her eyes at them all, throwing Sword Breaker into the air, high-kicking the one to her right, grabbing her dagger out of the air to sink clean through the chest of the Blood to her left, pulling diagonally to her left, and sweeping the second off its feet, spinning her dagger around to quickly slit the throat of the downed Blood. With an effortless fall to her elbows, the Blood from before missed another 'Slant', ending with Philia pushing up with her elbows, drop-kicking the Blood in the chest, giving her the space to spin atop her arms, pushing back up onto her feet, while kicking her Sword Breaker through the side of the knight's neck and out the end.

*Shatter-Shatter-Shatter*

[Sword Skill - Stop Rewind]

A Sky-Blue glow cast itself upon Sword Breaker. Philia was pulled to the nearest knight, slicing diagonally across its abdomen, spinning around to pull the blade back across, hurdling the dagger through two more throats, ending with the dagger sinking clean into the first knight again, the three erupting into shards.

Philia then felt her reality turn back the clock, her same stream of attacks thrown the opposite way, crushing and decapitating two more knights in the process, while parrying a Blood Templar's club with acrobatic finesse. A vertical lunge sliced the next in-two, followed by a clean, diagonal thrust to her right, sinking her dagger through the collarbone of the knight, the same vertical draw sliced the head clean off its shoulders.

Rolling under a Blood Templar's club, the burst of arcs from the skill blasted the group apart, Philia held the skill constant, pushing up with her feet to cross blades with the Templar diagonally, followed by the same diagonal motion from the right, severing its arm. Philia followed with the reverse, spinning to slice the second arm off, followed by a powerful inclining slant to the right, splitting the Templar above the waist. Her final move collected the winds replicated by the dagger's speed, and with a palm-strike to a final Blood knight, it too shattered, its armour cracked and splintered by the pressurized air fist.

*Shatter-Shatter*

"A...eighteen...hit combo." Philia breathed, resting her hands on her knees to watch the final twenty fall before her, White clearing about six more during her skill use

White effortlessly skated through two more swings of the knights' blades, their levels far too low to harm his form, his sword impaling them both through their stomachs, with a two-handed lateral swing to split their armour. The flurry of shards raining upon White like a king to gold.

The final horde of twelve all ran from the end of the hall, a final cry of defiance against the intruders that dared to slaughter their men, to them, it was a demon, an inhuman monster of unbreakable fire and strength, he was unbound by Death himself, but in the end, for White atleast. What were these knights to a king?

**=Pause=**

"I think you all know what I'm going to say next, place your bets." White winked

**=Resume=**

Three charged from the back, two at his left and right, the final seven raising their swords in different shades of colors before his eyes, their illumination reflecting off the light that crept from the windows.

[Sword Skill - Horizontal]

In a single, fell swoop of a light blue line of light, White leapt into the air, twisting his body to swing his right arm, Parting Glass flashing through the air, severing all twelve of their heads off in a single blow, the sudden clap of armour falling around his feet remained, and sudden flash of blue light lingered. The knights fell to the floor, the glass was shattered to bits by contact, slashing White who sneezed.

"I think I got knight in my nose...aaACHOO!" Stumbling back slightly, White noted the now vacant hall, leaving only him and Philia standing before the black door ahead

"What was that sword skill from before? I've never seen it in the Skill Trees?" Philia asked with simple curiosity, the two walking up to their final hurdle

"It was a quest me and two friends of mine helped me with, Argo and Kirito. It was part of the 'Scourge of Sin' Quest-line I found, heard of it?" White explained, and Philia stopped for a moment

"I think so, it's a progressive quest, leading up the floors?" White hummed at that

"Mmm-hmm. It's how I got the Seven Sin skills. Wrath. Lust. Envy, and so on, the bonus was a special skill for One-Handed swords called...well, that name. The downside, it's cooldown is a minute and a half." White shrugged, the two now before the door. "If you wouldn't mind, Philia."

"Here goes nothing." Philia waved her hands passively, her hand reaching for the door. It was much larger than the iron ones before. It was bumpy, and black, with a large, red orb in the center

*Tiiiiiiing-Clank-Clank-Clank-Clank*

Within the moment the vibration ceased, the two friends stood back at the gust of wind pushing past them, as White felt his cape flap violently to the winds, the gust slowly mellowing out, and the black corridor of vines, leaves, and thorns greeted them, the gloomy tunnel leading to the innards of the Shrine. Hell, even the ambiance became devoid of any sound, giving the two players chills up their spines.

"I have a bad feeling about this, then again, most of my feelings as of late have been strange," White commented on the scarily silent entrance ahead. Both him and Philia stared at each other, then with a simultaneous step, they moved beyond the doorway, sighing heavily. "That was the easy part."

For a short moment, the two quickly activated their buff, respectively, White's boosted his strength, speed, 'Life Gain' for extra health, whilst giving both himself and Philia 'Damage Cut' for resistance against kinetic attacks. Philia had given herself a health boost too, 'Darkwing' again, and for both of them, 'Sleight of Hand' improving their skill activation by double.

The two players, now friends against what came next stood at the black tunnel ahead, their swords at the ready. Two years and neither had felt the dread that filled the room since the Death Game began, there were other times, sure, but this was something else, an unexpected outcome, and an unknown enemy.

"No turning back, I'm ready when you are." White's surprising response made Philia look to him

"And I am if you are." She added in-kind, seeing him snort a laugh, the two of them moving forward together, and into the darkness that lies ahead

To Be Continued...

* * *

The big boss is next, woot! But I wanted to say that massive groups of enemies like this will occur in the future as 'fun moments', sort-of since a game would throw disposable enemies at you, and I wanted to make that action-packed, instead of just skipping over it, also, I use 'Shatter' effect alot to save me repeating what you already know was going to occur with the defeat of an enemy, makes it smoother. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: The Shadow Dwelling Beast

_"From the depths of the abyss, far beneath the iron of our civilization in the sky, lies our greatest nightmares, fears, desires. We bound them, drove stakes to keep them from leaving, and threw the keys away. But we only made it stronger."_


	9. Chapter 9: The Shadow Dwelling Beast

**Arc I - Unlikely Pact**

**Chapter 9 - The Shadow Dwelling Beast**

**Hollow Area, Shrine of the Folkblood Ritual**

"Hey, so I just looked up what little information the Hollow Missions gave us on this Area Boss, and it's...creepy." White began, the two stopping once inside the large chamber

It was a massive hallway that leads to a circle up a flight of stairs, where the roof had caved in, and what was once a tree had become like some of the other spots around them, cubic, and black metal, the tree was now a spire of black into the ceiling above, although patches of grass still grew, and the sunlight basked the area with light, as well as through the remains of windows. Yet all around the walls of the shrine was a bottomless void.

"Long ago, a beast dwelled in its shadowy prison, but a break in its seal allowed it to escape. Now free, it has unleashed a campaign of carnage across the area it calls home. Where light is boundless, the shadows are endless." White finished the lore tab, the two now nearing the flight of steps

"So this creature is waiting up there for us?" Philia pondered, both ready with their weapons for a fight, yet not one of them felt the presence of darkness bleeding from the ground behind them, the large, inky shadow enlarging for its controller to rise through the shadows. "You think it can control shadows as a form of attack?"

"Could be..." White looked around the arena, then his head slowly turned back to face the steps, quickly, he grabbed Philia's hand, forcing her to speed-walk up the steps. "...Whatever you do, refuse to look back."

She did, then both of them sprinted up the steps, touching the massive arena around them, just as a shadow leapt right over their heads onto the other side. Now basking in the light, they saw the creature before them stood tall. A large, black dog-like creature leaking shadows, with crooked, silver, sickle claws.

Massive, iron stakes driven into its paws, alongside three, ice-blue crystal ones, driven in its front legs' shoulders, and through the top of its skull, and out the bottom of its jaw. Silver chains bound the stakes, with some wrapped around its limbs. But all came together to close its horrific jaw shut, which looked to take up three-quarters of its body, with rows of pointy teeth lining the edge, all the while red glowed from within its scars, multiple eyes, and maw. Yet it roared, the chains straining against its gargantuan mouth.

**-Area Boss - Shadow Phantasm - lvl 130-**

**{****Hollow Mission Begin!****}**

Raising their weapons to Shadow, its eyes hungrily longing for flesh to tear apart, Philia noticed that White was smiling, his eyes ablaze with an unknown force of power and determination.

"Why are you smiling?" Philia asked to simmer her bafflement at the sight

"Because...I haven't felt a rush in a boss fight like this..." White looked to her. "...Since floor seventy-five."

At that, Philia turned her head back to the boss, her determination showing. "Ok, let's do this!"

"You got it!" White barked over the rapid leaps of Shadow, the large beast was quick on its paws, slamming them down where White and Philia once stood. White ran to the right, with Philia to the left, Shadow slowly attempting to turn towards White

[Sword Skill - Wrath]

With several diagonal lunges across the side of Shadow, procking the feral animal with bleed, White skated to stand behind it, with Philia thrusting her Sword Breaker three times through the chest of the manic dog, inflicting three powerful lines of vitality and speed debuffs, making the chains strain under the hounds screams. The large body of the beast leaping into the air, only to dive-bomb the ground, throwing both Philia and White across the ground, inflicting vitality down on them both in return.

The body of Shadow reemerged from the pool of shade, pushing its powerful body towards White, who was still on the ground, raising its silver claws, Shadow lashed out at the ground, claws glowing a pale red in tone.

[Phantom Splicer]

Only a blinding gust of smoke rose into the area, the claws of Shadow crashed into the spot White knelt with resounding violence, each paw struck down with vigorous intent, shattering rock and mud with ease. The smoke cleared under a flash of wind, with Philia embedding her dagger into the calf of Shadow, 'Armour Pierce' shattering its defense, and training agro onto her.

"You missed." White mused, Shadow reacting painfully to the rapid strikes to the side of its belly, seeing White grasp Parting Glass in both hands, pulling downwards, then twisting the handle up, then out through its side, spraying red code and shadows across his body. "Philia, use a combo!"

"Right!" Her sword quick channeled the magical stream of blue to contrast the red on the underbelly of Shadow

Unity - Hurricane Eclipse

The crossing fields of red and midnight blue flourished through Shadow, slicing the insides of the dark beast as the massive crescents of red and blue flew through White and Philia, a shockwave of gold light erupting from within Shadow's body, showering a flurry of invisible attacks upon its body, making Philia and White grin at the boost of power to shatter its first health bar.

Shadow's body soon became a smog of black mist, with Philia bumping into White, the two quickly standing back-to-back to see where the shadow would appear.

"Heh, knew you'd love the Unity names." White nudged her

"Focus on the fight, then I'll tell you some I came up with." Philia mused, making White laugh. "Over there!"

The large shadow had moved to the far east of the arena, the body shooting up out the abyss like a corrupted rocket, yet all its claws were glowing dark purple, with the body latching around the side of the massive, black obelisk. Leaping off it, Shadow spun in the air, and they saw the message.

[Calamity]

"Get ready to jump!" White commanded, and Shadow crashed into the ground on all fours, sending an ever-expanding ring of corruption across the ring, at the very last moment, the purple light beginning to blind them, both friends leapt over the line, as it burst into small clouds of purple smoke against the walls

Suddenly, White was sent flying into the ground, pinned by a massive, black paw, the silver claws piercing his exposed shoulders, the chestplate on his torso being the only thing keeping back the unbearable pressure on his stomach, his sword pinned to his side by Shadow's digit. Slowly, his health began to dip.

"Grah! Oh, God please, get a breath mint!" White gagged, the beast roaring in his face, pushing his messy hair back. "Oh, don't you dare take that tone with me, big bad wolf!"

White pushed up with all the strength in his arms, using his elbows to free his arm and grab his sword, if only it were as simple as words conveyed since he struggled to hold it back from completely piercing his body with its weight and finely filed claws. Each second was another fragment of his health lost, and it was beginning to turn yellow.

Rushing from the back, Philia swung Sword Breaker horizontally, striking its calf, before she thrust it through its hip, pulling down slightly, before pushing her feet off the ground, flying up atop its back with a tug of her dagger, dragging Sword Breaker through its back legs. Philia spun around, slicing her dagger through its spine, so Philia hurdled her dagger in a downwards lunge towards Shadow's massive, chained jawline.

It reacted quickly, blocking with its stake stuck in its jaw, at the same time, Philia side-stepped to her left, keeping herself balanced atop its shaking body, which helped White move a little more; before Shadow threw Philia off its back and onto the stone floor. Turning its massive head, it snapped its teeth around her left hand, making her yelp, before throwing her into White, causing him to inadvertently lose his grip, while her health dropped.

Shakily, White reached with every fiber of his being to roll the handle of Parting Glass his way, and to his luck, he felt his fingers grasp the pommel, pulling it to his side, and clasping it back in his hand again. With a cry, he thrust the blade straight through the paw of Shadow, making its front legs recoil, pulling White back to his feet for him to retaliate. For the paw that held him down, he spun in the air below Shadow, slicing a diagonal laceration through the side of its thick hide.

With that motion, White pushed off its leg towards the left front leg, piercing it straight through the mass of darkness. Pulling out, White slid across the ground, the beast falling over onto its cone-like muzzle, leaving its back legs wide open for him to activate 'Horizontal' slicing a massive arc of blue light through the Tibia of its legs. Forcing Shadow to fall to the ground with a cry of demonic pain.

For the time provided, White noticed a flash of red and green light burst from his chest, and slowly, his health began to regenerate, alongside a 'Strength Buff', looking to the other side of the ring, Philia ran for Shadow, herself aglow with red light. Attempting to use 'Armour Pierce' again, Shadow melted into the ground, his shadow form flashing under Philia, leaving her to stand without a target.

Once more, Shadow leapt onto the battlefield, raising his front body again with a cry, its second bar of health now halfway, and at that, the chains that bound it long ago finally broke, the stake in its jaw shattering, only leaving the ones in its back paws, and shoulder blades. Yet the horrific, sticky maw flapped opened, nearly down half the length of its body, revealing the Venus-Fly Trap of a throat.

"I don't know which is more terrifying, that fact that I'm going to have nightmares of Resident Evil dogs, or that it has a Phase 2!" White yelled to Philia, but an idea did spark in his head, alongside another

**=Pause=**

_"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~!"_ White continued to scream like a girl

**=Resume=**

To the back of the shrine sat one of the pillars the new black metal had broken off, leaving behind a circular spike, and White's mad idea could work if he got in close. Slamming its glowing feet down on the ground again, the second wave of energy broke across the shrine, forcing Philia and White to leap again, yet White didn't stay in one place, with each wave the boss forced them to evade, White got closer and closer to its form.

The fourth wave was brought nearly atop White's body, yet he quickly leapt onto the paw of Shadow, climbing up the side of its leg, just as the boss began to violently shake him off. Once on top of its head, Shadow opened its upper jaw wide, forcing White to slide off the side of its face, and into a set of claws that pushed him back, slicing three gashes through his body.

Now afflicted with 'Darkness', White channeled the pink flurry of light through his risen sword, quickly flying towards the body of the hound.

[Sword Skill - Nova Ascension]

A dozen thrusts of light were to spear the sides of Shadow, freezing the boss in-place, while its eyes were sliced by a stream of strokes from Parting Glass, taking chips of red off its corrupted form. The final thrust was with both his hands around his sword, the crackling force pushing Shadow back, yet the back claws sunk through the stone, pushing it back into a sprint.

White grinned at this, and in the last inch apart from the walls of red that slowly encompassed the sides of his body, he channeled the light blue skill through his arm, and up the length of his blade, their light reflecting off his glasses, and onto the walls of red and serrated teeth that nearly shut tight on his body.

[Sword Skill - Sloth]

What followed was two quick strokes from right to left, left to right, than a final right to left to carve the throat of Shadow with a perfect 'S', forcing the jaws to recoil in agony, its health dipping into the final bar, whilst stunning the boss for White to move back, without a word, Philia rushed past him with a hardened face.

[Sword Skill - Rapid Raid]

Philia was embraced by a brush of the winds, her Sword Breaker striking Shadow like gusts of wind slicing through its body with swift ferocity. Two strikes left and right, another three zigzagging down the length of its face, followed by a vertical and horizontal cross up, then towards the right. Then a final, powerful thrust, the sound of glass shattering rattled the air, 'Defense and Vitality Down' in a single skill.

"Switch!" Philia called back to White, who drank down two last potions, inverting the grip of Parting Glass, which surprised Philia, yet she didn't question what he was planning to do next

Shadow wailed in anger, stomping backward nearest the pillar that was broken through the middle, once there, White continued to charge, with the rapid stomping of Shadow to meet him halfway, the two forces ready to clash. Shadow's forehead soon coated itself in a shield of red light, the cured flames whipping back wildly in the wind.

[Blinded Ram-shot]

White bent his sword to block the oncoming charge, and within the moment he did, the massive beast broke against his weight, pushing White back a few inches, yet to the boss' anger and surprise, its eyes widening, White stopped sliding back in pain, in fact, his eyes under the glare of his glasses were staring right back with a mad, toothy grin, his arms straining against the face and handle of his sword, and slowly, the boss' skill began to weaken, and White did something unexpected.

With a heave, White yelled under his grounding teeth, placing his hands under the jaw of the boss, and with the remaining momentum in Shadow's skill still in effect, White lifted the boss over his head, turning with the speed left behind to give his swing more velocity, pushing up with a painful push of his legs.

"Sorry...this red riding hood bites back!" White spat, using all the strength he had to throw the boss flying towards the back of the shrine, with White falling to his knee in exhaustion, the hound crashing into the wall and falling just to the edge of the abyss it crawled out from

_"ROOOOOOAAAAAR!" _

Yet a crack ran up the side of the wall behind it, as dust rained from above. With a final sniff of the air, Shadow looked to see its demise CRASH into its head, the top piece of the pillar dislodged, spearing the grotesque maw of the boss shut, and subsequently crushing the entirely of its skull under the massive beam of stone. The remainder of its health pool dripping off into the void.

For a moment of silence, the two believed they had triumphed over the Boss of Selvendys, yet White's fist froze in the air, his voice catching in the back of his dry throat. His blade snapped back to his stance, his feet rising from under his body to stand against the rising shadows from under the pillar.

"No way...!" Philia was just as surprised as White, the two raising their weapons to the black, metal hand that clenched around the pillar, its helmet pushing out of the shadows, forming a horn on the front, almost like a rhino

Its black armour was broken in places, with the binds on the back of its shattered helmet replaced with the same, silver chains as before, with moss covering other pieces of its black-clad body. While a giant, silver greatsword was clutched in its right hand, the visor staring at them both with a green-tinted glow of unwavering rage.

**-Area Boss - Keeper of the Scourge - lvl 130-**

Slamming its greatsword into the ground, the rest of its armored body stepped out into the Shrine, raising its sword to grasp the sword with both hands, the glow of harsh purple contrasting to its emerald eyes. But the power emanates from its body, it wasn't like any other Boss, not even close to how frantic and malice the Phantasm was before, this...thing, both Philia, and White felt it, the Keeper was far from any normal monster, just like the knights under the same name, this thing wasn't meant to be here.

"Well, Philia!" White's head looked over his shoulder, the white locks of his hair blowing from the winds that were generated by Keeper, but she saw the look in his eyes, ablaze like before the fight, it was burning just as powerful. "You ready to kick its ass!?"

"...I'm right behind you," Philia answered, flicking Sword Breaker to rest the serrated edge against her plated arm

No delay had occurred with the drums of war. Keeper leapt into the air, pulling his greatsword back in its right hand if White blinked, he may have perished during his side-step, Keeper's body shot down at blinding speed, sinking his sword into the stone like a shot put. Turning to look at White, Keeper swung the massive, silver sword across to the left, forcing White to dodge, then it pulled back, thrusting forwards again, yet White parried the hit, forcing Keeper back.

[Sword Skill - Armour Pierce]

The javelin of green light shot through Keeper, lowering its defense, followed by a stream of orange in-front of it.

[Sword Skill - Sloth]

Three sudden, sharp slants across its entire body broke its frantic speed with 'Slowness', yet it seemed unfazed, even with only one health bar to its name, Keeper merely held it's greatsword against its back, then with a impossible amount of speed, crashing the blade down in=front of it with an eruption of fire, striking White with painful burns, rattling his heath pool upon hitting the ground.

Multiple thrusts dug through Keeper's calf, so it instinctively swung the greatsword in a large arc behind it, yet Philia jumped, roundhouse kicking the knight, following with a vertical slant, and a horizontal cross through it's legs, yet she felt her breath catch in her throat, the massive, gleaming sword throwing her high into the air, followed by a powerful puncture with both hands on the greatsword, spearing her mid-air.

[Protection Prayer]

Sighing, White watched with relief as his and Philia's HP rose from the red back into amber, with each second granting them more health with a small burst of green light. Keeper's large, clanking footsteps marched towards White, who had managed to stand again to face the Keeper, his sword held to his right in both hands, then, with a small jog, Watcher spun his blade around like a tornado, dragooning White into playing defense, and avoiding the twin rotations, which were followed with a charge. White spun around, pushing back on his toes and lunge at Keeper too, a blink of green light between their strikes, the two parrying each other with the tips of their blades, the painful ringing snapping at their eardrums.

"Heh, switch." White's grin had made a surprising impact on Keeper, he reacted to it far more than any other A.I he's seen. Watcher went to protect its blind spot, flipping it's greatsword around to grasp it by the blade, the guard against his thumb._ "So he can use magic...I am both impressed and terrified."_

[Seven Star Sanctification]

A sudden flurry of long, jagged arrows of white light shot forth from the rounded pommel like an eye, the several arrows piercing the back of the arena with an explosive force, Keeper didn't mistake where Philia was, she just managed to slip past every strike, her body shimmering like code made of pinkish-purple light, her ocean-blue eyes glowing with a cunning grin to match, her Sword Breaker a deep red and purple.

**=Pause=**

"This boss is a seriously tough cookie, but I didn't need to essentially 'hit' it, only give Philia time to increase her 'Speed and Strength' stats, while I quickly activated 'Lightning Attack' during their skirmish to lower my defense for max SP." White showed a zoomed-in frame of him in the background during Philia's distraction, seeing his see-through tabs open

"Then, during our stalemate parry, I gave her a little gift I used before called, 'Hyper Armour'." White clicked his tongue. "In Layman's terms..."

**=Resume=**

"You dun goofed." White had activated his trap card, and Keeper raised his staff-sword high, a small sphere of fire gathering in the pommel, then, a sudden plunge of the sword into the stone channeled the fire through the sword's edge, fissures of fire snaking across the blade, uprooting stone like a volcano

[Fire Dragon King's Sword]

Philia's body merely ran through the straight line of volcanic eruptions without a thread of fear, her aura merely gave off a wave of blood lust, something that even gave White a chill. Like stars, Philia and her Sword Breaker glimmered through the fires.

[Sword Skill - Assassin Retribution]

Two lightning-quick strokes of her dagger left and right, followed by three curved, purple lacerations from the air like a raven's talons, Philia then inverted her grip, striking up, then twisting her arm to lunge down, sinking her blade into the stone, two more bursts of corrupted lines sinking through Keeper's armour like sickles, draining his life and adding to Philia's, tearing all the remained of his health in a flash of light, which proceeded to erupt within him, stretching out like a gold helix of energy, melting the remains of his health into nothing.

With parts of its body turning to blue and shattering before the eyes of White and Philia, the latter beside White as he panted for each lungful of air he could, coughing slightly from the strain he put on his body, with his hero, Philia kneeling beside him. The last piece to go was the sword, stick out of the ground and fading like dust.

**[][][]~-[CONGRATULATIONS YOU DEFEATED THE AREA BOSS!]-~[][][]**

**{****Hollow Mission Completed!****}**

[Rewards]

Hollow Points - 300

Area Points - 45

Col - 2500

"We...We bloody won~!" White raised his fists to the breach in the ceiling, the sun becoming far brighter after the boss' defeat, only adding to the warmth glory had given him, and his partner. The two of them were completely washed over with the sweet beating of victory over the Phantasm, and its surprising Third Phase

"That was tough...but we won! And what was with that throw of yours to its 'Phantom' phase?" Philia celebrated with him, but she was still impressed by his sudden ability to throw the boss that looked to weigh far more than he did, yet he merely tapped his nose

"He was made of shadows, they're not that heavy, it was the chains that were adding to his weight. Not counting the human it was hiding in itself." White automatically answered, and Philia had an 'Awe' of understanding. "Besides, if not for your help, I doubt we would have one on our own." White complimented her on the fight they had, and it was truly more difficult than he'd expect, and White only leapt to his feet with excitement for the next Area Boss

"Wait, the amulet!" Philia's sudden surprise made White turn to see the amulet in her hands begin to glow, the once grey gemstone now hummed with a bright white glow, yet from it, something was spat out and into White's hand to snatch from the air. "What is it?"

In his palm rested a small, jagged white crystal, yet it seemed to resonate like the amulet Philia held, both beating in rhythm with the other like hearts. Yet the feeling that rested in White's hand felt...dangerous, the power fluctuated from a soothed wave to a near burning sensation in his hand

[Key Item - Hollow White Keystone]

"Another keystone?" Both looked to each other then back to the keystone

"Well, if that isn't a coincidence then we don't know what is?" Suddenly, a new female voice echoed through the halls, sounding chipper yet sharp, and both Philia and White held onto their weapons and items. "Hehehe, you two were awesome back there, might be worth our time after-all, so tell me something...you ready for the show?"

To Be Continued...

* * *

Cliff-hanger~! And for the final chapter of this book, it plans to give you all far more than a mere new character, believe me. I hope you enjoyed the fight, seeya in the final chapter!

Final Chapter: We Are Gambit

Oh? Were you expecting a short hint to the next chapter? Oh, no-no, we don't play that ball game, we prefer it if you wait a little while, get comfortable, and prepare for a real introduction to us. Toodles ? ﾟﾎﾃ

Author's Notes: This was a story I had in my files, so I apologize for the ambiguous ending next chapter, but I've dedicated my time to Destiny and other projects at the moment, even so, happy some of you enjoyed this since not many write stories on SAO or the game for that matter.


	10. Chapter 10: We Are Gambit

**Arc I - Unlikely Pact**

**Chapter 10 - We Are Gambit**

**Hollow Area, Shrine of the Folkblood Ritual**

"Now, I'd love to sit and chat on the fact that we were right about this being a boss and it activating the keystone, really I do, but...do you hear that music?" White pointed out the growing instruments, sounding similar to the Phantom of the Opera, and getting louder

In a literal que of the drums beating with the chorus of trumpets and guitars, orange and yellow danced with the lights of green and purple, flashing and dancing the beat of the darkness that now dimmed around the two of them, the chamber becoming more and more illuminated by spotlights, meanwhile, Philia and White stood perfectly still, their heads following the sounds and lights.

**[NateWantsToBattle - Phantom]**

_LYRICS_  
_I'm just a phantom in your room_  
_With no intent on leaving soon_  
_And you're still not even sure just how I got here_

_Another ghost that's in your bed_  
_That you wish you could leave for dead_  
_Ain't no magic word can make me disappear_

_Now that room it starts to dim_  
_Set the mood for onset sin_  
_And now we're passed out on the floor of your apartment_

_With every single warning sign_  
_It passed you up and slipped you by_  
_But we're all bound to end up back to where we started_

_Make no mistake_  
_I'll break you down_  
_Shout it around town_

_I'm not what you want_  
_But I'm exactly what you need_  
_Take a bite and feed_  
_Your satisfaction guaranteed_

_I'm your sunshine whoa_  
_I'm gonna burn down your parade_  
_I'm a shooting star_  
_That wish you wished you never made_

_Don't wanna take a leap of faith_  
_You wanna do this face to face_  
_And like an animal the instincts taken over_

_There ain't nothing to debate_  
_Blow this purgatory state_  
_The city lights will drown you out in the exposure_

_Now that room it starts to dim_  
_Set the mood for onset sin_  
_And now we're passed out on the floor of your apartment_

_With every single warning sign_  
_It passed you up and slipped you by_  
_But we're all bound to end up back to where we started_

_Make no mistake_  
_I'll break you down_  
_Shout it around town_

_I'm not what you want_  
_But I'm exactly what you need_  
_Take a bite and feed_  
_Your satisfaction guaranteed_

_I'm your sunshine whoa_  
_I'm gonna burn down your parade_  
_I'm a shooting star_  
_That wish you wished you never made_

Startling them again, they watched as the lights revealed a small collection of Sable Knights and Cursed Swords, dancing and singing alongside the cackling voice that echoed from every corner of the festive music.

_This world is what you need_  
_Where the monsters roam and the demons all feed_  
_Relax don't you look so wary_  
_It's all only temporary_

_We roam and sing along_  
_While the choir joins in sing an abhorrent song_  
_We bite it's a little bit scary_  
_The pain's only temporary_

For a small moment, while the next chorus played in a whisper, the lights went dark around the two, the shadows of a laughing jack o' lantern dancing among the shadows, but now, the voice felt like a cold rush up their spines, both looking at each other, as they turned to the sound coming from behind. Slowly, along with their hearts threatening to burst, they turned and soon saw a massive, golden, jagged smile hovering in the air, alongside two massive, curved, pupilless eyes, also golden in color.

_I'm not what you want_  
_But I'm exactly what you need_  
_Take a bite and feed_  
_Your satisfaction guaranteed_

Then the lights came on brighter than ever before, revealing the two-story creature with inky-black skin.

_I'm not what you want_  
_But I'm exactly what you need_  
_Take a bite and feed_  
_Your satisfaction guaranteed_

_I'm your sunshine whoa_  
_I'm gonna burn down your parade_  
_I'm a shooting star_  
_That wish you wished you never made_  
_Wish you wished you never made..._

The song was finally coming to a close, with the piano playing the song out, while the creature slowly shrunk before Philia's baffled eyes, and White's child-like awe at the show, clapping as he did. The creature was replaced by a regular person now, a girl even. She smiled coyly at them both with ruby eyes, She wore a white short jacket, with purple lines up the arms and down the zipper, with an amethyst symbol on the back, with a black shirt under that.

White cargo shorts, a purple belt held them up, all of which housed multiple pouches. Last, she wore black boots with purple stars along the laces, while her signature scarf blew in the light breeze, it was white, with a purple splash effect on the front. Her marigold hair was too tied in a ponytail, allowing the locks to brush out wildly behind her.

"Sup." She spoke, and to their reality-changing shock, a title card appeared under where her arms crossed for a short time

Gambit. AKA Dimitri. The Multiverse Freelancer

Want to make a deal?

"Oh, right, forgot Borderlands did that 'title card' thing to us." Dimitri chuckled nervously, throwing the title into the abyss to their right, yet both White and Philia stared, unblinking, making Dimitri look uncomfortable. "Uhh, you guys ok?"

"Give us a second." White pointed out, slapping himself across the face, with Philia finally regaining her composure. "Hi, names-"

"White Hat. Philia. We know, We watched your fight." Dimitri interrupted, clapping lightly for them both. "Nice show though, haven't seen coordination like that since Floor 75, Skull Reaper was it?"

"Aye, and...who, better yet, what are you?" White slowly spoke to the girl, who was busy flicking through a hand of cards, her eyes glancing to and from their faces

"Are you an NPC?" Philia asked curiously. Yet Dimitri snorted a laugh

"Well, depends on how you view us." Dimitri continued to talk as if she was two people, yet she shook her head. "No, we're a supporter if you wish to you that term, and provide our services when she hires us to handle a situation that's gotten...sour."

"So, you make trades, I guess?" White pictured and Dimitri clicked her fingers, moving close to look at White dead in the eyes, her nose touching his, causing him to look from her to Philia. "Hi."

"Hello there," Dimitri replied, moving away from him again. "Seems you're far more than what you seem, eh, White?"

"Uhh...what?" Philia had never seen White so conflicted by someone else before, granted, she's never met anyone he knows, but to see him come out with short answers was a first for her

"And you?" Philia saw the finger pointed at her. "You are a girl with a few problems hanging over your head it seems?" That made her wince at the reminder of her Orange cursor. "BUT! Hehehe, we have good news for you both! We can help you with this 'Hollow Area', so long as we make a deal."

For a moment, White looked to Philia, the two sharing a look the other mirrored perfectly.

"First off, how can believe this is true? Any of it?" Philia crossed her arms with an inquisitive look

"You saw how that boss changed into that knight, right?" Dimitri mentioned, then she pointed to the door behind them where they entered the arena. "And you also saw that strange, torn white patch."

"What did that? I get this is a sealed off sector of Aincrad, buuut that didn't look like a texture glitch?" White explained, seeing the look on Philia's face. "I say 'sealed off sector', but after that Ultio guy showed his edgy ass, I doubt it."

"Now that you mention it...nothing like this has happened before, sure, I encountered lag spikes during segments of the area, but never texture loss." Philia confirmed, but they then looked to Dimitri's smug look

"Yeah, see the not-so-nice-guy We're after happens to have more privileges in this world than us, so he's already a move ahead, for now." Dimitri's cryptic answers made Philia cautious of her, while White was still blinking

"I'm still lost on the texture part." He whispered to Philia

"If you see those 'White Patches' again, we suggest you steer clear of them, less you want to die a more horrific death than the Nervegear going Gallagher on your grey matter." The sudden chill made the deep impact of Dimitri's warning stern, and she didn't look too pleased about it either

"Want my opinion? We haven't a clue why Trinity ought to trust teens with the fate of reality, but given how Sky went...We're inclined to take a leap of faith here." She was only greeted with bemused looks from the two of them. Clearing her throat, she gave them an honest look. "We're not going to keep you both in the dark, but in order for us to do that, we need info on what this thing's planning, even a name would be a start, could fast-track that back to an old friend."

For a small fraction of time, White was contemplating the situation in his head. How everything had escalated beyond any normal mystery behind the Hollow Area, to a fight against what could be the end of all the two years of pain and despair people had suffered.

_I know you're a good person...just smile._

**=Pause=**

...

...

"Okay..."

**=Resume=**

After the break, White looked back to Dimitri. "Guess we'll take a chance." White chuckled at his usual phrase. "Ok, Dimitri, what's this 'deal'?"

For her answer, she clicked of fingers, followed by a tiny flash of light before them both. Now, they stared directly at the small, white keystone, just like the one White held, before their eyes. It hummed a soft white tone, like the fall of snow against the light of day, but from where they stared, White felt it, a resonating heartbeat to its form, its drum was soft, gentle, yet it held back something else. _Power._

"This here, is a shard of the Devourer, like the one in your inventory. With the sacrifice of a funnily similar guy like you, White, he defeated this creature, leaving only five fragments of its power behind." Dimitri spoke in a voice that held familiarity in her tone? In another flash of colors, the other keystones appeared before us in the dark like stars floating around all three of them

"The Keystone of Desire." Red. "The Keystone of Poison." Purple. "The Keystone of Abyss." Sky Blue. "The Keystone of Creator." Yellow. "The Keystone of Power." Emerald Green. "And last, the Keystone you both obtained. The Keystone of Soul." Dimitri was silent, the Keystones vanishing into the air

"That Necklace will help you both through the sections of this world, and be warned, something in Sword Art Online is after those Keystones, you have to protect them with your lives, if he obtains them, the remaining lives in this realm will cease to be, full stop." Dimitri sunk the truth into them, yet smiled all the same

"My deal is simple since we can't manipulate this world due to the Cardinal System being...well, the Cardinal System, we shall give you information with each Keystone you collect, or an Item of your choosing." Dimitri shrugged, sitting down on the air, flicking through her cards. "Here's your fortune."

Before them were five cards. An Ace of Spades with Umbra's clan symbol from Warframe. A Joker with that Ultio guy from before. A Queen of Hearts had Philia on it. A King of Clubs revealed White's own face. The last card was that of the same creature that Dimitri was before, only...different. It looked to have purplish-blue eyes, with a grin revealing a forked tongue, and blue scales running up the sides of its face. It was on a Jack of Diamonds.

"Consider what these show as a sign, however, you interpret their meaning is your business, not ours." Dimitri flipped them back, and with a clap, they were gone from her hands. "If you manage to do this, you will be rewarded greatly, and we don't just mean in terms of quest rewards, We're talking whatever you desire."

That prospect made the two of them look at each other, White's smile grew reassuringly for Philia, who had been looking detached the whole time, but she felt a small grin reach her face too.

"Oh, if you guys get into biiiiiig trouble, We'll be here, might set-up shop here too, it's got potential." Dimitri nodded with her hands on her hips. "So then...do we have a deal?"

"I'm in if you are, Philia?" White offered a hand out to Dimitri, her eyes sparkling with the ace of spades in her eyes. Placing her hand atop his, both now looked to the Treasure Hunter.

For that moment, Philia wondered if all they've done was right and if they could handle what came next. During the battle with the boss, not once had fear or loss infected her mind, nor had this mysterious stranger said their task was to be impossible. But with what she held over her head, what Philia had done...could she still be his friend?

"Hey, kid?" Philia looked to Dimitri, her eyes glowing with endless possibilities, and her smile matched White's usual grin too. "This is not down to us, whatever you chose will be your own, and nothing in this Multiverse can take your choice from your heart."

"I never forced this on you Philia, I always felt like you wanted to join me on this if you said no, I wouldn't have forced you to come with my crazy ideas." White added softly, yet Philia's hand softly pressed itself atop Dimitri's, and when Philia's eyelids revealed her ocean-blue gaze to White, she looked to him with conviction in every ounce of her soul

"I know, I followed you because you held answers, but now...now I want to stand with you too, as partners." Philia held more confidence in her reply. "Whatever comes next, I won't run away."

"I never doubted it." White grinned

**=Pause=**

"This day...has been one I don't think I could live without...Philia, she's just like Argo, Kirito, Umbra, all of them, she's someone I can't live without now, despite what short time we've known each other..." White paused, looking at himself with a content smile

"This isn't going to be easy...but...I never would have it any other way." White then looked to Dimitri, her eyes winking back at him with a frown, catching him off guard. "Seems Dimitri is for real, despite everything that's happened within this Death Game, I...honestly still absorbing all of this, but I like it, Dimitri's fun."

"Boy, we _'ARE'_ Fun." Dimitri muttered

**=Resume=**

"Ugh, so you're the reason we keeping having.._.hurk_, problems with time." Dimitri groaned, shaking her head out of the trance, her cunning look rising back to her features

"No turning back." Philia spoke with a hint of anxiety that had risen

"So we'll keep moving forward, together." White agreed, holding out his fist to Philia, who, after a short moment of hesitation, bumped it back with a more motivated expression, the wind breezing past them both

"We cannot wait, to see how this turns out." Dimitri concluded with herself and the man that grinned in the back of her mind

This was the next step in what would become the greatest untold battle for lives held in the iron castle of Aincrad. The Players have gathered, the darkness has risen, and the light has assembled from the most unlikely of places. The Pieces are set, the first moves played on either side of the board. Now, the game begins.

To Be Continued...

* * *

And so the end of this small fragment of one of my past stories, I apologize if this leaves it on a bit of a cliffhanger but I have my hands full with Destiny's second Book, but hey, atleast its a decent SAO story, right? Maybe? I don't know, still, hope you enjoyed it, until next time!


End file.
